Breaking! China just made a big breakthrough in reusable rockets. For the first time, China successfully achieved the controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage at sea.
The Long March-10B rocket was launched from China's Wenchang. 6 minutes after the stage separation, the first stage successfully landed on the sea-based recovery platform.
This is also the world's first net-based rocket recovery.
Onboard views from Starship and Super Heavy V3, which are equipped with upgraded cameras capable of streaming 4K video through every phase of flight via @Starlink
Ship 39 has arrived at the launch site, giving Booster 19 some company before stacking operations later this afternoon, presumably.
Looks mega with the new S39 decals and newly added SpaceX logo on the payload section.
๐ธ - @NASASpaceflight
https://t.co/wIef8kFcSP
BREAKING ๐จ: SpaceX's Starship V3 megarocket is set to make its first launch on Thursday (May 21)
It's the most heavily redesigned Starship since flights began in 2023
Liftoff is targeted for 6:30 PM ET from Starbase, Texas ๐
These vehicles are the first of many โ made possible by the tireless effort of SpaceX engineers and technicians โ and are designed to enable the core revolutionary capabilities of Starship
Raptor 3's baby, Raptor 3's!!
Booster 19 has been lifted off of Pad 2's launch mount and is about to be set down onto its transport stand, in preparation for a rollback to Mega Bay 1.
The new blackened livery on the aft section looks phenomenal.
๐ธ - @NASASpaceflight
๐บ - https://t.co/LZcjDxUmY4
Starshipโs twelfth flight test will debut the next generation Starship and Super Heavy vehicles, powered by the next evolution of the Raptor engine and launching from a newly designed pad at Starbase. The launch is targeted as early as Tuesday, May 19 โ https://t.co/2gZQUxS6mm