SpaceX has returned a starship to the launch tower for the first time - it should radically reduce the cost of launches into space.
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Elon Musk's SpaceX has taken one of the last steps towards fully reusing its largest spacecraft, a starship - engineers have successfully landed it on the Maczilla launch tower, catching it in mid-air with mechanical "arms". The 52-meter-long ship, according to Musk's plan, should fly to orbit with the frequency typical of airplanes, requiring minimal training between flights.
The whole rocket could not be landed as planned - a day before the return of a starship, it was necessary to send its super heavy booster to the Gulf of Mexico, activating the self-destruct program. His engines stopped too soon. However, the capture of the accelerator has already been worked out in recent years - it was successful three times.
Musk makes a special bet on a starship. First, it is set to replace the company's main workhorse, the Falcon 9, which has completed more than 700 launches since 2010. One Falcon 9 launch costs $74 million - already extremely cheap for the space industry. A larger, heavier starship capable of carrying more cargo could end up costing $2-10 million per launch.
Second, it is a starship, in the development of which SpaceX has invested more than 15 billion dollars, which should become a ship to return to the moon and then conquer Mars. NASA expects SpaceX, along with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, to be able to get people to the moon as early as 2028.