Watch: Elon Musk shares rare footage of SpaceX Starship’s water landing

Elon Musk shared a rare video on X (previously Twitter), exhibiting a Starship higher stage making a vertical water landing.
“We need to perfect ship reentry at extreme temperatures before attempting to catch the ship with the tower arms, like the booster,” he wrote.

SpaceX’s Starship Super Heavy is getting ready for a significant take a look at flight on March 4, following a important approval from the US. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The mission goals to refine reentry methods and take a look at the booster’s return-to-launch-site manoeuvre. This is a key step in SpaceX’s long-term plans for lunar and Martian exploration.
This take a look at comes after an accident on January 16, when SpaceX misplaced its earlier Starship prototype throughout flight. Despite the investigation into that incident, the FAA has authorised Flight 8 after reviewing security measures. SpaceX has now made {hardware} enhancements to reinforce automobile efficiency and reliability.
One of the largest challenges on this take a look at is the Super Heavy booster’s managed landing try. The aim is to catch the booster utilizing the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms—a significant step towards making the rocket absolutely reusable. Meanwhile, the Starship higher stage will try a managed splashdown within the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Australia.
To enhance sturdiness, SpaceX has modified the automobile’s ahead flaps to cut back warmth publicity throughout reentry. These upgrades are essential for making certain the spacecraft can deal with future missions, together with NASA’s Artemis programme and Musk’s aim of reaching Mars.