.jpg) Booster 12 on final approach to the launch tower | |
| Mission type | Suborbital flight test |
|---|---|
| Operator | SpaceX |
| Mission duration | 1 hour, 5 minutes, 40 seconds |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Starship Ship 30 |
| Spacecraft type | Starship |
| Manufacturer | SpaceX |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | October 13, 2024, 12:25:00 UTC (7:25 am CDT)[1] |
| Rocket | Super Heavy (B12) |
| Launch site | Starbase, OLP-A |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date |
|
| Landing site |
|
| Orbital parameters | |
| Regime | Suborbital |
| Periapsis altitude | −15 km (−9.3 mi)[2] |
| Apoapsis altitude | 213 km (132 mi)[2] |
| Inclination | 26.2°[2] |
 Mission patch | |
Starship flight test 5 was the fifth flight test of a SpaceX Starship launch vehicle. The prototype vehicles flown were the Starship Ship 30 upper-stage and Super Heavy Booster 12.
After launching and delivering the Starship upper stage into a suborbital trajectory heading toward a splashdown in the Indian Ocean, the Super Heavy booster turned around and fired its Raptor engines to return to the launch site. As the booster approached the launch pad it slowed to a near hover and did a horizontal slide maneuver to line itself up with two massive "chopstick" arms on the launch tower, dubbed "Mechazilla." The arms then closed around the booster before the engines shut down.
The rocket launched on the morning of 13 October 2024, one day after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a launch permit that had been delayed since early August and after weeks of increasingly public feuding between SpaceX and the FAA.