SpaceX is making preparations for the fifth flight test of its Starship, with a potential new milestone on the horizon. The company has teased that it may attempt to catch the Super Heavy booster using the launch tower's 'chopsticks' during this upcoming test.
The fourth flight test of Starship took place on June 6, and SpaceX posted a video highlighting various milestones from the mission. At the end of the video, an animation depicted a Super Heavy booster returning to land at Starship's launch tower, known as 'Mechazilla.' The animation suggested that this could be 'Next up' for SpaceX, along with 'Flight 5.'
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also hinted at the upcoming test on social media. He wrote on X last month: 'Aiming to try this in late July!' Musk was likely referring to the attempt to catch the Super Heavy booster during its landing.
The company has previously shared animations of Mechazilla's chopstick arms catching a Super Heavy booster as it comes in for a landing at Starbase. Prior to that, SpaceX posted a video of Mechzilla's chopstick arms grasping a stationary Super Heavy while it sat upright on its launch mount.
Starship has had four test flights to date, with each one being more successful than the previous. The most recent flight saw both Starship and Super Heavy reenter Earth's atmosphere intact, resulting in ocean splashdowns.
SpaceX plans to catch Super Heavy on its launch tower so that it can be refurbished and relaunched more efficiently and on shorter timeframes. This would be a significant step forward for the company as it works towards making Starship a reusable rocket system.
Starship is designed with off-world destinations in mind, particularly Mars. SpaceX wants to use the rocket to reach Mars and potentially help settle humans there, while NASA plans to use it for landing crews on the moon during its Artemis program.
