SpaceX just massively leveled up its rocket booster recovery game.
The most exciting moment in the fifth test flight of SpaceX’s Starship wasn’t about Starship at all. Instead, the Super Heavy rocket stole the show by successfully landing back at the launch tower just a few minutes after blasting off. Starship itself hovered briefly over its target in the Indian Ocean before toppling over. NASA’s schedule for the Artemis program — in which Starship is slated to carry the Artemis 3 crew to the Moon in 2026 — depends on SpaceX getting this whole system right and on time.
