Agencia EFE San Antonio, US, Oct 13 (EFE).- SpaceX successfully completed its fifth test of Starship, achieving a major milestone by recovering the rocket’s first stage, marking a breakthrough in reusable spaceflight. The largest rocket ever built on its first attempt managed to recover the first stage of the ship with a crane on the launch pad itself, a milestone in space engineering. At around 7:30 a.m. local time, SpaceX launched Starship from its Boca Chica launch site in Texas. The massive rocket successfully propelled its main module into orbit, powered by 39 Raptor engines in the first stage. A still image taken from a handout video made available by SpaceX shows SpaceXís ìMechazillaî (L) mechanical arms ready to catch the Super Heavy rocket booster (R) mid-air as it makes a vertical landing following the launch of the unmanned Starship, at SpaceXís Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, 13 October 2024. EFE-EPA/SPACE X HANDOUT — MANDATORY CREDIT: SPACEX HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES In a remarkable feat, the first stage returned from the stratosphere, performed a controlled deceleration, and landed on the same platform, where it was captured by the “chopsticks” crane for reuse. This fifth Starship test, involving the 5,000-ton rocket, not only achieved orbital insertion but also successfully tested a system that maintained communication with the orbital module during reentry using Starlink, something no spaceflight has previously accomplished. Starship aims to become the first private spacecraft to reach the Moon and Mars, establishing permanent presences and colonies on both planets, a vision spearheaded by SpaceX founder Elon Musk. A still image taken from a handout video made available by SpaceX shows SpaceXís ìMechazillaî (L) mechanical arms ready to catch the Super Heavy rocket booster (R) mid-air as it makes a vertical landing following the launch of the unmanned Starship, at SpaceXís Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, 13 October 2024. EFE-EPA/SPACE X HANDOUT — MANDATORY CREDIT: SPACEX HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES The landing process used for Starship’s booster is similar to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, a smaller orbital launch system with a success rate of over 95 percent, typically used for Earth-orbit missions. EFE sa-jmr-ssk