Commander Sumit Ghosh
Lucknow: On October 13, 2024, SpaceX of Elon Musk successfully recovered the Super Heavy booster of its Starship rocket during its fifth test flight: The separated falling booster was guided to the launch tower in a fully controlled descent and caught by the launch pad’s giant robotic arms, nicknamed Chopsticks of the massive mechanical system Mechazilla just seven minutes after taking off from Boca Chica, Texas.
The Starship is a two-stage heavy lift vehicle comprising a booster (called Super Heavy), and an upper section (the Starship spacecraft). It is the largest rocket ever (120 metres), taller than even the Saturn V (111 metres), which took Neil Armstrong to the Moon. It is designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond, and once fully operational, can revolutionise space travel. SpaceX wants to use the Starship HLS (Human Landing System) to take NASA astronauts back to the moon by 2026 as a part of the Artemis III mission. SpaceX also hopes that Starship will put the first humans on Mars.
The Mechazilla is the SpaceX’s towering structure equipped with a pair of giant robotic arms designed to catch and recover the parts of launch vehicles during their descent. Once the launch vehicle separates from the booster, the booster returns to the launch site, using its grid fins through a controlled descent and orientation. Near the Mechazilla, the robotic arms (controlled by precision motors and actuators) align vertically along the tower and grab it.
Various types of recovery systems exist, but none has ever achieved this. NASA also uses parachutes for rocket recovery and is experimenting with Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerators (HIAD) consisting of a Flexible Thermal Protection System (F-TPS) that protects the entry vehicle through hypersonic atmospheric entry. The Blue Origin uses its new shepard rocket to land vertically, relying on its engines to slow descent. The United Launch Alliance belonging to Boeing & Lockheed Martin focuses on recovering key engine components only and not the boosters. The Falcon 9 recovery booster lands on specially-built platforms using landing legs strapped to its side, rather than being caught in mid-air. The Rocket Lab employs helicopters to catch boosters mid-air using parachutes.
SpaceX’s mid-air recovery system is significant for space enthusiasts for the following reasons:-
Catching a booster directly on its launch pad, instead of using ocean platforms is a major step towards SpaceX’s goal of developing a multiple use rocket that also can be deployed quickly. It eliminates costly and time-consuming processes of ocean landings, search and recovery, or parachute-based systems.
With this technology, SpaceX can relaunch super heavy rockets within an hour which would impact space exploration, commercial spaceflight economics, expenses on additional resources for recovery of boosters, and environmental impact etc.
Some key implications would be:
- Cost Reduction in Spaceflight launches and new booster. Reusability would mean improved efficiency, reduced turnaround time for refurbishment, and potential for extended booster lifespan.
- Increased launch frequency and more frequent flights would drive down the cost of putting payloads into orbit, fostering further competition in the space industry apart from paving way for low budget players to enter the domain of space sciences.
- Integration of advanced control systems and precision-guided technology for higher levels of accuracy would aid technological capabilities required for future space missions, including manned missions to our solar system or beyond.
- More innovative and robust, structural & aerodynamic designs of boosters would likely evolve for reliable, smoother and safer mid-air recoveries.
- With minimal damages incurred during landings, reduced need for manufacturing new boosters and cutting down on materials and energy use would result in reduction in rocket waste.
- Reusing rockets multiple times would greatly help reduction in the environmental footprint of spaceflights, consequently lowering the Carbon impact of the space industry.
- Make human missions to Mars more affordable and sustainable. SpaceX would be able to allocate resources and focus on innovations related to deep space missions.
- Exploratory missions to the Moon, Mars, or asteroids would be more feasible for other companies, governments and research institutions
- SpaceX would further solidify its competitive advantage in the private space industry. Such technology would provide even greater lead over other space companies still relying on expendable rockets or those that have yet to fully develop reusable rocket technologies.
- Achieving booster catches would likely push other space companies to adopt similar reusability models, potentially setting new benchmarks for efficiency and sustainability in the industry.
- Recovering boosters more efficiently would enhance the overall safety of the launch system, as reusable rockets undergo multiple real-world tests, leading to refinements and improvements in reliability, particularly for crewed missions.
SpaceX’s ability to catch a booster would definitely have wide-ranging effects on the economics, sustainability, and future potential of space exploration apart from establishing its technological dominance as a leader in this domain. Indian space agencies have to catch up with emerging technological innovations to stay dominant in the space race.
