SpaceX to attempt double catch of huge Starship rocket

Fonte da imagem, Reuters; legenda da imagem: Starship é o foguete mais alto, mais pesado e mais potente já lançado.

1. Watch: From launch to fiery splashdown, SpaceX's Starship completes orbit test.

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SpaceX will attempt to catch both parts of its huge Starship rocket after it launches on its next test flight on Friday.

Elon Musk's company will use the mechanical arms - nicknamed chopsticks - on its launch tower to grab the rocket parts mid-air as they return to Earth.

If successful, this will be the first full recovery of a rocket that's been to space, paving the way for making Starship reusable so it can fly repeatedly.

A NASA estará acompanhando de perto o voo: o foguete da SpaceX está destinado a desempenhar um papel vital em seu programa Artemis, que verá astronautas pousarem na Lua.

Image source, SpaceXImage caption, The lower section of Starship has been recovered three times by the "chopsticks" on the launch tower.

After six and a half minutes, the first planned catch will be attempted when the bottom part of the rocket - the Super Heavy booster - returns to the launch tower.

A parte superior do foguete, chamada Ship, seguirá sua trajetória rumo ao espaço e lançará 26 satélites. Estes farão parte da constelação Starlink, que oferece internet de alta velocidade a partir do espaço.

The Ship is then due to complete 14 orbits around the Earth before returning for the second catch attempt about 22 and a half hours after taking off.

Until now, SpaceX has managed to catch the Super Heavy Booster on three earlier test flights.

Mas a etapa superior do foguete, que só atingiu a órbita pela primeira vez em setembro, nunca foi agarrada pelos palitos. Em vez disso, ela se afundou no oceano.

SpaceX said it would only decide to try to catch the Ship after carefully assessing the vehicle while it's in space.

If any problems are detected there are various points during the flight when the rocket stage can be brought down in the ocean.

Image source, SpaceXImage caption, A SpaceX lander could take astronauts down to the surface of the Moon.

Building a fully reusable rocket is a long-held ambition for SpaceX.

Em 2015, tornou‑se a primeira empresa a pousar verticalmente parte de um foguete com seu booster Falcon 9.

Falcon 9 rockets now fly more than a hundred times a year, and the ability to reuse the bottom part of the rocket has dramatically cut the costs of launch.

But landing an entire Starship rocket could take this to the next level, says Prof Malcolm Macdonald, President of Royal Aeronautical Society.

Um acerto duplo bem-sucedido seria visualmente espetacular, mas a reutilização total tem o potencial de mudar fundamentalmente a economia de acesso ao espaço, ele disse.

One successful flight will not prove that model, but it could mark an important transition: from demonstrating that Starship can fly, to demonstrating how Starship could operate.

After SpaceX went public earlier this year, its shareholders will be carefully monitoring this flight, as will the US Space Agency.

O progresso do Starship tem implicações diretas para a tentativa da NASA de pousar humanos na Lua em 2028 – um cronograma altamente ambicioso.

SpaceX recebeu um contrato da NASA para configurar o Ship em um módulo de pouso que, eventualmente, levará astronautas até a superfície lunar.

But it's not the only company working with the US Space Agency. Blue Origin, owned by rival tech billionaire Jeff Bezos, also has a contract to use its New Glenn rocket and lander for the Moon touch down.

Both companies will also play a key role in Artemis III, which is currently planned for summer 2027- another challenging schedule.

This mission will see four astronauts in Nasa's Orion spacecraft attempt to dock with both SpaceX and Blue Origin's landers.

Starship precisará fazer muito progresso nos próximos meses para cumprir esses compromissos – o ritmo do desenvolvimento da nave tem sido muito mais lento do que a SpaceX pretendia.

Mas a Blue Origin também tem muito trabalho a fazer. A empresa sofreu um grande revés no início deste ano quando seu foguete explodiu, destruindo totalmente sua plataforma de lançamento na Flórida.

Blue Origin had said they would be back in action by the end of this year, but a return to flight has now been delayed to early in 2027.

Nasa is under pressure to meet its timelines. Its administrator Jared Isaacman has said America is in a race with China to get to the Moon. China plans to land its Taikonauts on the lunar surface by 2030.