In the early morning hours of Oct. 13, SpaceX launched another Starship test, the fifth so far.

The launch, like previous ones, was impressive enough. But the Superheavy first stage, descending after being separated from the Starship second stage, and then being plucked out of the air by the Mechazilla arms back at the launch pad, was a whole new level of impressive. They did it successfully on the first try.

About 40 minutes later, the Starship achieved a pinpoint splashdown in the Indian Ocean. On the whole, the fifth test of the Starship/Superheavy was a resounding success.

The flight was fraught with irony because, just a week earlier, the Federal Aviation Administration was still maintaining that it would not permit the test to proceed until late November. However, something changed and the government agency issued its launch license the day before the test. Was pressure brought to bear? In any case, the FAA developed a welcome sense of promptness that expedited the approval.

The test flight and its spectacular conclusion was a tiny step in the Starship’s development and a giant leap on the journey back to the moon and onward to Mars. The sight of the massive Superheavy being plucked out of the air by the Mechazilla arms........

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