The Successful Catch: A Historic Moment for Space Exploration

We've left the vehicle's pitch downrange and are pressing nominal. Hot aging is going to be the next thing coming up first, so we're going to see the boosters' engines start to shut down all but three. We're going to do what's called most engines cut off instead of main engine cut off, because three are going to keep going. And then we're going to see the engines on ship ignite – one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen in my entire life is coming up.

As we approach hot staging, our attention turns to the command sent for the booster to come back. We can confirm that it's been sent and that it's going to happen soon. Looking up right now, the booster is pretty much right over ahead of us and we can see it starting to come down in three phases. We're going to lay up 13 engines and burn off all of that velocity – oh, we can see it coming down through the plume. The booster is coming in hot for a booster catch, which is going to ignite 13 of those Raptor engines.

This is absolutely insane – we've just had our first-ever attempt at catching a super heavy booster back at the launch tower. This is a day for the engineering history books, and we're thrilled to have made it happen. We're going to start looking real soon at when we can catch a ship. The view on your left is a camera positioned near the nose of the Starship, looking basically toward the flap. The view on the right is looking perpendicular to the flap – we're getting a bird's eye view onto the flap on the left-hand side and then a worm's eye view from the side with that view on the right.

We're making a controlled re-entry, which is one of the primary objectives for Starship today. We're demonstrating another controlled re-entry even more controlled than what we saw on flight 4 so far – it's looking good. The Starship is currently at t+1 hour and 9 seconds into its flight, re-entering the Earth's atmosphere about 45 kilometers above the surface of the Earth.

We are targeting a soft splash down in the Indian Ocean, about northwest of Australia. After engines ignite, if we're unable to see that illumination ourselves, Landing burn startup will begin – what a cool view of the reflection of the landing bur is coming up. We can see the water just behind the ship, and it's an incredible view. I think it's safe to say we have a ship in the water, touching down on the ocean surface. What an incredible end to Starship's journey.

As we continue to monitor the situation, we're reminded of the incredible achievement that has been made today. The successful catch of a super heavy booster back at the launch tower is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the team involved in this mission. We'll be looking forward to sharing more updates on the progress of Starship as it continues on its journey, but for now, we can take pride in knowing that we've made history once again in space exploration.

The cameras positioned near the nose of the Starship are capturing stunning views of the re-entry process, providing us with a unique perspective on the mission. The bird's eye view onto the flap on the left-hand side and the worm's eye view from the side are both giving us valuable insights into the spacecraft's performance during re-entry.

As we look to the future, we're excited about the possibilities that Starship presents. With its advanced technology and design, this spacecraft is poised to take humanity to new heights – literally. We can't wait to see where this journey will take us next.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en3 2 1 1 we have leftt on vehicle's pitching downrange we press nominal all right so hot aging is going to be the next thing coming up first we're going to see the boosters engines start to shut down all but three we're going to do what's called most engines cut off instead of main engine cut off cuz three are going to keep going and then we're going to see the engines on ship ignite one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen in my entire life coming up on hot staging next ship engine start close engines cut off stage separation booster stage separation hot stage conf separation confirmed ship under its own power I'm seeing six out of six Raptors lit hopefully I got a booster on the way back to me I'm going to send to to you guys in Hawthorne and we did hear that the tower is go for catch so that was one of the big criteria we were looking for launched from just wow five minutes ago yeah the booster Starship on Nal I can confirm the command was sent for the booster to come back that is incredible looking up right now it's it's pretty much right over ahead of us and we can see it starting to come down three phases we're going to lay up 13 engines burn off all of that velocity oh we can see it coming down through the plume booster coming in hot for booster catch going to ignite 13 of those Raptor engines and this view is incredible right now you can see how fast this vehicle is moving on the left hand Landing burn ignited we're now down to three Raptor engines we can see those Chopsticks now in here shut Milla has this is absolutely insane on the first ever attempt we have successfully caught the super heavy booster back at the launch Tower this is a day for the engineering history books we just caught a booster we're going to start looking real soon at when we can catch a ship um The View on your left is a camera that's positioned near the nose of star of of the ship looking basically toward the flap um The View on the right is looking perpendicular to the flap so we're looking basically bird's eye view onto the flap on the left hand side and then a worm's eye view uh from the side with that view on the right we're making a controlled re-entry this is one of the primary objectives for Starship today is to demonstrate another controlled re-entry even more controlled than what we saw on flight 4 and so far uh that is looking good Starship now at t+ 1 hour and 9 seconds into its flight today re-entering the Earth's atmosphere uh currently about 45 km above the surface of the Earth Now 44 we are targeting a soft splash down in the Indian Ocean uh about you know oh Northwest is of Australia after engines ignite if we are unable to see that illumination ourselves Landing burn startup what a cool view of the reflection of that Landing bur you can see the water just behind the ship sh is an incredible view I think it is safe to say we have a ship in the water touchdown that ocean surface what an incredible end to starship's Journey a live view from a buoy that we had out at the Landing Zone3 2 1 1 we have leftt on vehicle's pitching downrange we press nominal all right so hot aging is going to be the next thing coming up first we're going to see the boosters engines start to shut down all but three we're going to do what's called most engines cut off instead of main engine cut off cuz three are going to keep going and then we're going to see the engines on ship ignite one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen in my entire life coming up on hot staging next ship engine start close engines cut off stage separation booster stage separation hot stage conf separation confirmed ship under its own power I'm seeing six out of six Raptors lit hopefully I got a booster on the way back to me I'm going to send to to you guys in Hawthorne and we did hear that the tower is go for catch so that was one of the big criteria we were looking for launched from just wow five minutes ago yeah the booster Starship on Nal I can confirm the command was sent for the booster to come back that is incredible looking up right now it's it's pretty much right over ahead of us and we can see it starting to come down three phases we're going to lay up 13 engines burn off all of that velocity oh we can see it coming down through the plume booster coming in hot for booster catch going to ignite 13 of those Raptor engines and this view is incredible right now you can see how fast this vehicle is moving on the left hand Landing burn ignited we're now down to three Raptor engines we can see those Chopsticks now in here shut Milla has this is absolutely insane on the first ever attempt we have successfully caught the super heavy booster back at the launch Tower this is a day for the engineering history books we just caught a booster we're going to start looking real soon at when we can catch a ship um The View on your left is a camera that's positioned near the nose of star of of the ship looking basically toward the flap um The View on the right is looking perpendicular to the flap so we're looking basically bird's eye view onto the flap on the left hand side and then a worm's eye view uh from the side with that view on the right we're making a controlled re-entry this is one of the primary objectives for Starship today is to demonstrate another controlled re-entry even more controlled than what we saw on flight 4 and so far uh that is looking good Starship now at t+ 1 hour and 9 seconds into its flight today re-entering the Earth's atmosphere uh currently about 45 km above the surface of the Earth Now 44 we are targeting a soft splash down in the Indian Ocean uh about you know oh Northwest is of Australia after engines ignite if we are unable to see that illumination ourselves Landing burn startup what a cool view of the reflection of that Landing bur you can see the water just behind the ship sh is an incredible view I think it is safe to say we have a ship in the water touchdown that ocean surface what an incredible end to starship's Journey a live view from a buoy that we had out at the Landing Zone3 2 1 1 we have leftt on vehicle's pitching downrange we press nominal all right so hot aging is going to be the next thing coming up first we're going to see the boosters engines start to shut down all but three we're going to do what's called most engines cut off instead of main engine cut off cuz three are going to keep going and then we're going to see the engines on ship ignite one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen in my entire life coming up on hot staging next ship engine start close engines cut off stage separation booster stage separation hot stage conf separation confirmed ship under its own power I'm seeing six out of six Raptors lit hopefully I got a booster on the way back to me I'm going to send to to you guys in Hawthorne and we did hear that the tower is go for catch so that was one of the big criteria we were looking for launched from just wow five minutes ago yeah the booster Starship on Nal I can confirm the command was sent for the booster to come back that is incredible looking up right now it's it's pretty much right over ahead of us and we can see it starting to come down three phases we're going to lay up 13 engines burn off all of that velocity oh we can see it coming down through the plume booster coming in hot for booster catch going to ignite 13 of those Raptor engines and this view is incredible right now you can see how fast this vehicle is moving on the left hand Landing burn ignited we're now down to three Raptor engines we can see those Chopsticks now in here shut Milla has this is absolutely insane on the first ever attempt we have successfully caught the super heavy booster back at the launch Tower this is a day for the engineering history books we just caught a booster we're going to start looking real soon at when we can catch a ship um The View on your left is a camera that's positioned near the nose of star of of the ship looking basically toward the flap um The View on the right is looking perpendicular to the flap so we're looking basically bird's eye view onto the flap on the left hand side and then a worm's eye view uh from the side with that view on the right we're making a controlled re-entry this is one of the primary objectives for Starship today is to demonstrate another controlled re-entry even more controlled than what we saw on flight 4 and so far uh that is looking good Starship now at t+ 1 hour and 9 seconds into its flight today re-entering the Earth's atmosphere uh currently about 45 km above the surface of the Earth Now 44 we are targeting a soft splash down in the Indian Ocean uh about you know oh Northwest is of Australia after engines ignite if we are unable to see that illumination ourselves Landing burn startup what a cool view of the reflection of that Landing bur you can see the water just behind the ship sh is an incredible view I think it is safe to say we have a ship in the water touchdown that ocean surface what an incredible end to starship's Journey a live view from a buoy that we had out at the Landing Zone\n"