SpaceX's Historic Midair Booster Catch and Starship Milestones

SpaceX's successful midair booster catch marks a significant leap towards fully reusable rockets.

### SpaceX Achieves Historic Milestone with Midair Booster Catch and Starship Progress
* 🚀 SpaceX captured global attention with its first successful **midair catch of a booster**, marking a **significant advancement in rocket reusability**.
* 🌌 This milestone is critical for the development of the Starship, which aims to be **fully reusable**, requiring both portions of the vehicle to **survive after launch**.
* 🤔 Initially met with skepticism, the midair catch proved effective, showcasing SpaceX's **capability and silencing critics**.
* 🌕 NASA is now considering the possibility of using Starship for lunar landings as **early as 2025**, although the current plan is to land with crew in **2026**.
* ⛽ To achieve this, SpaceX must demonstrate the ability to **refuel Starship in orbit**, a complex engineering challenge akin to **filling a gas tank**.
* 🔥 During its last flight, Starship's heat shield was revamped, allowing it to **return from space more successfully** than previous attempts, which ended in **disintegration**.
* 🌊 The booster successfully splashed down in the ocean, highlighting the **potential for full reusability**, a feat not yet accomplished with the Falcon 9.
* 🔄 Achieving this level of reusability would represent a **paradigm shift** for SpaceX and the entire launch industry, opening **new possibilities for space exploration**.

>> WE CAN SEE THOSE CHOPSTICKS. [CHEERS] ED: SPACE X CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF THE WORLD OVER THE WEEKEND, MAKING A FIRST HISTORIC CATCH MIDAIR FOR ONE OF ITS BOOSTERS. FOR MORE ON WHAT THIS LEAP MEANS FOR SPACEX EXPLORATION, LAUREN BRESCIA JOINS US. THEY WERE ACTUALLY TWO MILESTONES AND WE NEED TO TALK AND THE STARSHIP COMPONENT OF IT, BUT LET'S START WITH THE BOOSTER, WHY THAT WAS SIGNIFICANT, THE IDEA OF RAPID REUSABILITY. LAUREN: THIS WAS A BIG HURDLE THAT SPACEX NEEDED TO CLEAR IN TERMS OF THE DEVELOPMENT FOR STARSHIP. THE PROMISE IS THAT STARSHIP WILL BE FULLY REUSABLE. SO BOTH POTIONS -- BOTH PORTIONS OF THE VEHICLE NEED TO

SURVIVE AFTER THE LAUNCH. WHEN THEY FIRST PROPOSED THE IDEA, PEOPLE WERE SKEPTICAL. SPACEX HAS PERFECTED LANDING ITS ROCKETS WITH ITS FALCON 9, BUT WHEN THIS WAS PROPOSED, CATCHING THE ROCKET IN MIDAIR RATHER THAN LANDING IT, A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE WONDERING HOW THIS WOULD WORK. IT SEEMED TO WORK LIKE A CHARM, AT LEAST FROM WHAT WE SAW. I THINK THEY PROVED A LOT OF SKEPTICS WRONG OVER THE WEEKEND. CAROLINE: NOW NASA IS GOING AS FAR AS TO CONSIDER THAT MAYBE WE ARE LANDING ON THE MOON, USING STARSHIP AS EARLY AS 2025. TALK ABOUT WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN TO GET US THERE. LOREN: THE CURRENT PLAN IS LANDING IN 2026 WITH PEOPLE. JUST TO CAUTION, THERE IS STILL

A LONG ROAD AHEAD FOR STARSHIP. THIS WAS OBVIOUSLY A HUGE MILESTONE FOR THE COMPANY, BUT NEXT THEY NEED TO SHOWCASE THEY CAN REFUEL STARSHIP IN ORBIT. THAT IS ESSENTIALLY LIKE FILLING UP AT THE GAS TANK BUT WITH A LOT MORE ENGINEERING CHALLENGES. THIS WILL BE CRUCIAL TO THAT BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO CATCH AND THEN RELAUNCH THE BOOSTER OVER AND OVER AGAIN WITH BACK-TO-BACK LAUNCHES IN ORDER TO PERFORM THOSE REFUELING MISSIONS. ED: STARSHIP GETS TO ORBITAL ALTITUDE, SPEED, GOES AROUND THE WORLD, CONTROL LANDS INTO THE INDIAN OCEAN. TALK ME THROUGH THAT PART. LOREN: DURING THE LAST FLIGHT, STARSHIP STRUGGLE COMING BACK FROM SPACE, WE SAW IT BURNING UP AND BREAKING APART PLUNGING

THROUGH THE ATMOSPHERE. SPACEX SAID THEY DID A TOTAL REVAMP ON THE HEAT SHIELD ON STARSHIP, AND FROM WHAT WE SAW, IT SEEMED TO SURVIVE RELATIVELY INTACT. DEFINITELY NOT AS SIGNIFICANT AS THE PRIOR FLIGHT. SO IT DID SURVIVE. WHEN THEY TRIED TO SPLASH DOWN IN THE OPEN, THEY WERE ABLE TO FLIP AND DO A PRETTY PRECISE LANDING. IT REALLY WAS A BIG MILESTONE FOR BOTH THE BOOSTER AND STARSHIP, SHOWCASING MAYBE THIS ROCKET CAN BE FULLY REUSABLE. TO BE FAIR, SOMETHING THAT SPACEX HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE YET WITH ITS FALCON 9. PART OF IT IS STILL DESTROYED AFTER LAUNCH, SO THIS WOULD BE A PARADIGM SHIFT FOR SPACEX AND

SpaceX’s First Midair Rocket Catch

Welcome to the Bloomberg Technology YouTube channel. Subscribe for original series and mini-docs on game-changing technologies, profiles on innovators, live conversations with experts, and breaking technology news & analysis from Bloomberg TV.

Bloomberg Technology

SpaceX made a historic midair catch of one of its boosters, marking a significant milestone in its development for the Starship program.

The company's goal is to achieve full reusability for both portions of the vehicle after launch, and the successful catch has proven skeptics wrong.

NASA is now considering using Starship for a crewed moon landing as early as 2026.

Starship's Milestone and Future Challenges

Starship's recent flight was a significant milestone, but the company now needs to demonstrate its ability to refuel the spacecraft in orbit, which presents engineering challenges.

The successful revamp of the heat shield allowed Starship to survive its reentry and achieve a precise landing in the Indian Ocean.

This mission showcased the potential for the rocket to be fully reusable, a goal that SpaceX has yet to achieve with its Falcon 9.

The launch industry is crucial for deploying satellites and spacecraft into orbit.

It has seen significant growth due to increasing demand for satellite services and space exploration.

Key players in the industry include private companies and government agencies, leading to a competitive and rapidly evolving market.