11.12.2024

A SpaceX test flight splashes down in the Indian Ocean off WA's north-west coast. (Source: Starlink on X)

Large bags of "miscellaneous metal pieces" have been unloaded at a WA port after SpaceX employees and contractors salvaged remains from a rocket test flight.

Elon Musk's SpaceX conducted the flight in Texas last month, launching a 122-metre-high rocket designed to carry astronauts to the Moon and Mars. 

The launch, on November 19 local time, was watched by US president-elect Donald Trump.

The flight was unmanned, however a stuffed banana was placed on board to serve as a zero-gravity indicator.

SpaceX had planned to "catch" the rocket's first stage booster in the chopstick-like arms of the launch tower, but a communications error diverted the booster to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico.

The rocket's second stage landed further afield, eventually re-entering the atmosphere about 500 kilometres off the coast of Exmouth in Western Australia, 1,230km north of Perth and nearly 16,000km from the initial launch site.

US-based space media company Interstellar Gateway has been closely following the launch and the recovery effort, with a representative travelling to Exmouth to document the recovery efforts.

Founder and chief executive, Joey Leal, said the test was a significant one for SpaceX.

"They were doing a lot of testing — different materials, different thicknesses, different placements," he said. 

"Really putting the ship through its paces."

Recovery brings space material to WA

Mr Leal said the initial plan was for SpaceX employees and contractors to travel out to the splashdown site, floating in the Indian Ocean, from Exmouth and Onslow.

Beadon Creek Port in Onslow was originally staged for the rocket's return and salvage, but the effort was complicated when it broke in two.

"When we saw the boat in Onslow not return with anything, that definitely stuck out," Mr Leal said.

The crew from Exmouth was initially sent to assess the splashdown, but Mr Leal said the ship unexpectedly brought back recovered material.

"To our surprise, as we had got out there, they had probably started unloading maybe an hour prior," he said.

The recovery included heat-resistant panelling and large bags of "miscellaneous metal pieces".

Images also showed large tanks being loaded off the ship, however it is unclear what they contained.

Recovery of the rocket's main section also proved too difficult, and it was left to sink to the bottom, with that part of the Indian Ocean about 6km deep.

Mr Leal said allowing space material to sink after a splashdown was "pretty normal".

However, he said space industry companies were shifting towards recovery.

"It's kind of a little odd now, because even 20 years ago, rapid re-usability was not a thing," he said.

He said the Indian Ocean was favoured for splashdowns and the disposal of spacecraft and satellites due to its remoteness, alongside Point Nemo in the South Pacific — the place on earth furthest from any land mass.

An Indian rocket made international headlines when it washed up on a beach at Green Head, in WA's Midwest, midway through 2023.

Plenty of local interest

Perth Observatory's Matt Woods was closely following the ship's trajectory.

He said sinking space material in the ocean was a "small price for right now, for something that will basically revolutionise the space industry".

Mr Woods said companies like SpaceX will be looking to reuse and recover more of the starships they launched.

"In the next couple of missions, they'll be actually continuing to try and bring up both super heavy booster and the starship back to land as well," he said.

Mr Woods and Mr Leal said that the data recovered from the salvaged materials of WA's coast would be invaluable to future missions.

Space X has been contacted for comment.

Quelle: ABC News