Elon Musk shared on X/Twitter a photo of the outer ring of the Super Heavy rocket's engines, which was recovered from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
This is part of the same Super Heavy booster (Block 1 B11) that was gently brought to life in the Gulf of Mexico during the fourth test launch of the SpaceX Starship on June 6, 2024. The booster was lying in neutral waters at a depth of about 60 meters, so the HOS RIDGEWIND, a subsea service vessel typically used for oil drilling operations, was hired to raise it. However, the entire booster was still too large, so only the most valuable part, the Raptor engine block, was raised from the ocean floor.
Starship Super Heavy Booster Flight 4 pic.twitter.com/EMGpNVn58Q
Starship Super Heavy Booster Flight 4 pic.twitter.com/EMGpNVn58Q
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 23, 2024This was done, not least, to prevent the engines from getting to China, which is always interested in other people's technologies and has significantly accelerated its space program by buying scrap metal at Baikonur. Of course, the Chinese can try to find the remains of the Starship Block 1 S29 spacecraft somewhere in the Indian Ocean, but the depths there are much deeper, and the ship must have been significantly damaged during the crash landing.
As a reminder, the next launch, scheduled for November 2024, is expected to catch the Super Heavy booster using mechanical arms on the launch tower. Permission for this flight has not yet been received from the FAA.
