On Sunday, October 13, 2024, SpaceX successfully conducted the fifth flight test of its Starship megarocket. The Super Heavy booster returned to itslaunch site at Boca Chica, Texas, and SpaceX successfully caught it in midair (it's the size of a 20+ story building).

This is a breakdown of what happened during the launch, stage separation, all leading up to that "catch," an analysis of the fire on the side of the rocket and the black smoke, was it a catch or a docking, why the "catch" was necessary (as opposed to a Falcon 9 landing), and more.

All Starship/Super Heavy video credit SpaceX. Here's the stream if you want to watch the whole thing for yourself: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1RDGlyognOgJL

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⏱ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction
01:22 The broader context
03:38 Livestream analysis
08:45 The fire
11:08 The black smoke
12:58 Catching vs docking?
13:19 Why not landing legs + parachutes?

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