Flight 5: Mechazilla catches Super Heavy
October 13, 2024 — on the first catch attempt, the tower chopsticks caught the booster while Starship completed another controlled Indian Ocean splashdown.
What happened
Flight 5 lifted off on October 13, 2024 with the boldest recovery objective yet: return Super Heavy to the launch tower and catch it in the mechanical arms.
After ascent, hot-staging, boostback, and coast, Booster 12 lit its landing burn and — on the first attempt — was caught by Mechazilla at Starbase.
The catch
Thousands of vehicle and pad criteria had to line up before the catch was even armed. When they did, the chopsticks closed on a booster that had left the same pad minutes earlier.
It was the clearest single image yet of rapid reuse: the first stage back on the mount hardware instead of in the ocean.
Ship return
Ship 30 completed ascent into space, coasted across the planet, and flew a controlled reentry through peak heating and max dynamic pressure.
A flip, landing burn, and splashdown in the Indian Ocean closed the flight about an hour after liftoff.