SpaceX Plans To Introduce New Catch Strategy For Landing Super Heavy Rockets

Private Space Company headed by Elon Musk, SpaceX is going to try a more ambitious and new strategy for its pinpoint rocket landings. SpaceX routinely pulls through and reuses the first stages of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, which brings the boosters down for smooth vertical touchdown nearly 9 minutes after the takeoff on the ground close to the launch pad or on autonomous drone ships in the ocean. These landings are specifically accurate and precise. However, the space company now aims for something truly extraordinary with Starships. Starships are next-generation systems being developed by the company for taking people and payloads to the moon, Mars, and other space destinations. The Chief of the space company, Elon Musk has announced that the company is going to try new methods where experts can catch the Superheavy boosters with the help of the launch tower arm using the grid fins to take the load. The company is planning to bring the super heavy, massive first stage of the two-stage Starship system directly down on the launch pad.

The officials have said that the launch tower arm will catch the Super Heavy boosters; therefore, its touchdowns will not be like standard landings. They have said that while being caught up by the launch tower arm, Super Heavy boosters will not require landing legs like Falcon 9 and Falcon heavy first stages. The catch enabling grid fins are waffle-like regulating facades, which aid returning rockets maneuver during precise landing. Elon Musk has said that the new strategy will have many crucial benefits. It will save mass and expense of landing legs. It will be able to trigger immediate relocation of boosters on to launch mount. It will prepare the boosters to fly again within an hour, so it is less time consuming as well. Experts have said that the Starship’s upper stage is nearly 165 feet tall. The head of the space company Elon Musk has claimed that Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy will be entirely and quickly reusable. The new strategy of SpaceX will make Mars colonization and other exploration missions more cost-effective. The company has been able to develop and fly many Starship prototypes from its South Texas facility close to the Gulf Coast village of Boca Chica.

Last month, the company has tested the SN8 vehicle, which has climbed to a projected altitude of 7.8 miles and safely returned to Earth on the designated spot. Although SN8 has come back too fast and blown up in a huge fireball, however, officials have declared the epic test flight a success. The company will be launching other test flights in the near future. SpaceX has located SN9, another test flight, on the launch stand. The SN9 test flight has three powerful Raptor engines; therefore, the maximum altitude of its climb will be in the 7.8-mile range. Space Company has tested around three prototypes of Starship like before the SN8 test flight and all of these prototypes have been single engine vehicles. These prototype test flights have been able to climb just 500 ft off the ground. The officials from the company have said that the final Starship will six have raptor engines, which will make it powerful enough to launch itself from the surface of the moon and Mars. The Officials of the company have informed that Super Heavy boosters will have 30 raptor engines. As per the report, the construction of the first Super Heavy prototype is still in the process, though the Starship Program has utilized most of its time and effort in designing and testing spaceship prototypes.