SpaceX’s fifth Starship flight test has launched

SpaceX launched Starship for its fifth flight test at about 8:25AM ET from its South Texas launch site. The company succeeded in returning the Starship Super Heavy booster to its landing pad, where it was “caught” using arms on the launch tower that SpaceX refers to as the “chopsticks.”

The catch was a first for the booster, which the company hadn’t returned without incident before its previous flight test in June. The company’s next task is to return Starship, which is expected to splash down in the Indian Ocean, as it did before.

Liftoff was delayed slightly while it cleared boats out of its launch range, pushing the flight test to the edge of its 30-minute launch window. The Federal Aviation Administration gave SpaceX approval for the test flight on Saturday, October 12th. It had originally expected to clear the fifth Starship test in November, but the FAA and its partner agencies reportedly carried out their assessments faster than anticipated.