SpaceX's massive metal pincers, which SpaceX calls "chopsticks" caught the Super Heavy booster.
SpaceX wrote on X on Sunday morning that it's preparing the fifth test flight of the Starship mega-rocket.
"The launch webcast will go live ~35 minutes ahead of liftoff which is currently targeted for 7:25am CT," SpaceX said.
SpaceX has started loading the world's largest rocket with propellants:
Elon Musk may be riding high after Thursday night's long-awaited robotaxi unveil event (though TSLA shares dumped 9% on Friday) and this momentum may continue through the weekend with the possibility that SpaceX could launch its Starship mega-rocket as soon as Sunday -- despite suspicious regulatory delays from the Biden-Harris' Federal Aviation Administration.
Musk quoted SpaceX's Xpost, noting, "Looks like Starship might fly on Sunday!"
He continued, "This the largest & most powerful flying object ever made at more than double the thrust of the Saturn V Moon rocket. We will try to catch it upon return to launch site using the Mechazilla arms like giant chopsticks (like Karate Kid)!"
Starship's fifth flight test could launch as soon as October 13, pending regulatory approval.
A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app. The launch window will open as early as 7:00 a.m. CT. As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to stay tuned to our X account for updates.
Flight 4 was a tremendous success. A fully successful ascent was followed by the first ever booster soft-landing in the Gulf of Mexico and Starship making it through a brilliant reentry, before its own landing burn and splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
The fifth flight test of Starship will aim to take another step towards full and rapid reusability. The primary objectives will be attempting the first ever return to launch site and catch of the Super Heavy booster and another Starship reentry and landing burn, aiming for an on-target splashdown of Starship in the Indian Ocean.
Extensive upgrades ahead of this flight test have been made to hardware and software across Super Heavy, Starship, and the launch and catch tower infrastructure at Starbase. SpaceX engineers have spent years preparing and months testing for the booster catch attempt, with technicians pouring tens of thousands of hours into building the infrastructure to maximize our chances for success. We accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public and our team, and the return will only be attempted if conditions are right.
Thousands of distinct vehicle and pad criteria must be met prior to a return and catch attempt of the Super Heavy booster, which will require healthy systems on the booster and tower and a manual command from the mission's Flight Director. If this command is not sent prior to the completion of the boostback burn, or if automated health checks show unacceptable conditions with Super Heavy or the tower, the booster will default to a trajectory that takes it to a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
The returning booster will slow down from supersonic speeds, resulting in audible sonic booms in the area around the landing zone. Generally, the only impact to those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief thunder-like noise with variables like weather and distance from the return site determining the magnitude experienced by observers.
Starship will fly a similar trajectory as the previous flight test with splashdown targeted in the Indian Ocean. This flight path does not require a deorbit burn for reentry, maximizing public safety while still providing the opportunity to meet our primary objective of a controlled reentry and soft water landing of Starship.
One of the key upgrades on Starship ahead of flight was a complete rework of its heatshield, with SpaceX technicians spending more than 12,000 hours replacing the entire thermal protection system with newer-generation tiles, a backup ablative layer, and additional protections between the flap structures. This massive effort, along with updates to the ship's operations and software for reentry and landing burn, will look to improve upon the previous flight and bring Starship to a soft splashdown at the target area in the Indian Ocean.
With each flight building on the learnings from the last, testing improvements in hardware and operations across every facet of Starship, we're on the verge of demonstrating techniques fundamental to Starship's fully and rapidly reusable design. By continuing to push our hardware in a flight environment, and doing so as safely and frequently as possible, we'll rapidly bring Starship online and revolutionize humanity's ability to access space.
Musk has been particularly vocal about the Biden-Harris team weaponizing federal agencies against his companies, such as SpaceX, slowing rocket launches.
Biden-Harris' lawfare against SpaceX's Starlink before the hurricane that decimated parts of western North Carolina likely cost lives.
Musk called out the fed's "lawfare" on Tucker Carlson.
All of this gov't lawfare against Musk and his companies is because Democrats hate X's free speech. Hillary Clinton and John Kerry said the quiet part out loud in recent days and weeks.
Some folks are still trying to get over Robotaxi Day... Now a giant Starship could be launched within the next day.