Blastoff! SpaceX Starship launches on 5th flight, nails 'chopsticks' booster catch!
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00:00Best words you could possibly hear 20 seconds away from liftoff.
00:09T minus 5 4 3 2 1.
00:24We have liftoff.
00:38Vehicle is pitching downrange.
00:5130 seconds into the flight.
01:00The rubble is just starting to reach us here at launch control.
01:12That is the sound of 33 Raptor engines.
01:26Max Q.
01:29Now pass through the maximum aerodynamic pressure, the most stress the vehicle is going to see on the way uphill.
01:46All right.
01:47Our next major milestone coming up, it's going to be hot staging.
01:50We're going to see the engines ignite on ship to push it away from the booster.
02:13All right.
02:14So hot staging is going to be the next thing coming up.
02:16First we're going to see the booster's engines start to shut down.
02:20All but three.
02:24We're going to do what's called most engines cut off instead of main engine cut off because three are going to keep going.
02:29And then we're going to see the engines on ship ignite.
02:38Right now the tower team is doing their go, no go.
02:51We might hear some really good words soon, too.
02:53All right.
02:59Mind me, that is one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen in my entire life.
03:03Coming up on hot staging next.
03:08There's most engines cut off.
03:15Hot stage separation confirmed.
03:23Ship under its own power.
03:25I'm seeing six out of six Raptors lit.
03:28Hopefully I got a booster on the way back to me.
03:30I'm going to send it to you guys in Hawthorne.
03:33Oh, man, that was absolutely incredible.
03:36I loved how the crowd here in Hawthorne all went, ooh, at that first view of the blue flames from the booster.
03:44As you can see there.
03:50The first stage currently performing, or excuse me, is now making its way back to the launch site.
03:56Again, we are.
03:59The booster and the tower are both performing automated checks to make sure we are go for the booster to return to the launch pad for that catch.
04:07And once those are complete, the flight director.
04:18We did hear that the tower is go for catch.
04:22So that was one of the big criteria we were looking for.
04:29We'll wait to hear that the go for catch has been set.
04:38Beautiful view here from the ship.
04:42And so exciting to hear that we got a go for booster catch.
04:46That means it's going to be a really exciting morning.
04:49Again, the booster is making its way back towards now land in order to make that catch attempt in the tower.
05:01So incredible to see these views.
05:03You can see the ship on the right hand side of your screen.
05:05All six Raptor engines are under full power.
05:11Once again, the booster is making its way back to the launch site.
05:17We are going to try and catch it using the chopsticks on the launch tower.
05:22The exact same tower that it just launched from just, wow, five minutes ago.
05:29I can confirm the command was sent for the booster to come back.
05:38So I'm looking up right now.
05:40It's pretty much right over ahead of us and we can see it starting to come down.
05:47I can't wait for us to hear the sonic boom through Dan's mic.
05:52That is going to be incredible.
05:54It was so cool to hear the liftoff.
05:56And so once again, a successful on-time liftoff of Starship Flight 5.
06:02The ship has separated from the booster.
06:06The booster is there on your screen.
06:08It is making its way back to the launch site.
06:11We are going to attempt the catch using the chopsticks.
06:14We did hear the confirmation that the command was sent to the tower.
06:19We are go for catch.
06:23And in order to –
06:24Hey, guys, we should just be about 30 seconds away from our landing burn.
06:30It's going to happen in three phases where you land.
06:3213 engines burn off all of that velocity.
06:35You can see it coming down through the plume.
06:40Booster coming in hot for booster catch.
06:44We're going to ignite 13 of those Raptor engines.
06:47And this view is incredible right now.
06:53You can see how fast this vehicle is moving on the left-hand screen.
07:0213 engines.
07:05We're now down to three Raptor engines.
07:08We can see those chopsticks now in the air.
07:23Booster landing burn shutdown.
07:26Everyone has caught the booster.
07:34This is absolutely insane.
07:37For the first ever attempt,
07:39we have successfully caught the Super Heavy booster back at the launch tower.
07:46What an incredible view.
07:51Are you kidding me?
07:57Wow.
08:00Dan, I don't know about you, but we're losing our stuff over here.
08:04Guys, I'm sorry.
08:08Like, even at this day and age, what we just saw, that looked like magic.
08:13Oh, wow.
08:15Dan, your view must have been insane.
08:19We are still going wild over here.
08:24Folks, this is a day for the engineering history books.
08:33This is a live view of the Super Heavy booster
08:37as it has just been successfully caught back at the very same launch tower that it just came from.
08:43Dan, I love this.
08:45You are reflecting exactly what everybody else here in Hawthorne,
08:49except maybe a little bit more because you got to see it with your own eyes.
08:53How was that?
08:55We caught it.
09:01I can't even describe that.
09:03Oh, by the way, ship, main engine cut off.
09:06Ship's in orbit.
09:09I am shaking right now.
09:17Let's check in on ship.
09:19It's hard to believe.
09:22Oh, right. Exciting news there.
09:24It's hard to believe that, you know, booster isn't the only excitement that we have today.
09:28Just confirmation there.
09:29A gorgeous view of planet Earth behind the ship.
09:34And it is now in the orbit that we expected it to.
09:38This is just an incredible day.
09:40Live views there as the booster vents some pressures there.
09:44That is a live view from the top of the tower looking at the chopsticks.
09:48I am still in disbelief.
09:50I'm trying to catch my tears just like the chopsticks caught the booster.
09:56It has been nonstop since liftoff.
10:03And we are all so excited about everything that's been happening so far this morning.
10:08With the booster having completed its job for today,
10:12we are going to take a short break for the next 30 minutes.
10:16We will return back at T-plus 40 minutes while the ship continues to coast before reentry.