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While waiting for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to approve the flight profile for the fifth Starship test, SpaceX is busy testing the launch pad and tower arms to try to catch the 232-foot-long Super Heavy rocket booster after Flight 5. The upcoming Starship test will be the first to attempt the risky tower grab, and SpaceX's latest Starship update, released earlier this month, said the company will continue to refine the procedure during the time it takes the FAA to evaluate the Starship Flight 5 test application.

SpaceX conducts several capture simulations using Starship's launch tower arms ahead of flight 5

SpaceX first started Testing the launch tower's gripping arms in Junewhen it was transporting part of a rocket booster to the pad. During that test, the tower arms, also called chopsticks, repeatedly hit the cylinder walls as teams tried to simulate a successful capture. After that test, one of the tower arms was replaced, according to local media footage, and testing slowed as SpaceX turned its attention to Starship's second stage.

Now, while awaiting FAA approval for Starship Flight 5, SpaceX has resumed testing the tower arms for the risky capture attempt. Earlier this week, the company sent a portion of the booster to the pad and tested it with the arms before removing it from the tower and sending it back to manufacturing and assembly facilities earlier today.

Footage from local media shows that the tower arms were tested at least six times during the latest launch, some simulating a test where they were hovering over a section of the booster, while other tests involved the arms closing around the cylinder as closely as possible without disturbing it.

SpaceX's complete Starship package is seen in Texas. Image: SpaceX/X

On the way to Starship’s fifth test, which could happen later this month or early September, the rocket’s second stage has experienced multiple static fires. Although SpaceX has fired the full stack four times, it has yet to demonstrate an in-orbit engine ignition with the second stage. Starship Flight 5 could witness that important test, and if both the tower engagement and engine ignition are successful, SpaceX will have passed several milestones in its rocket development.

Recent tower grip tests also showed that SpaceX tested the vertical movement of the arms as they moved up and down while a portion of the booster was placed between them. Other test runs in which the arms closed around the rocket portion showed that both moved simultaneously during some tests, while in others only one arm approached the cylinder.

Starship Flight 4 was the first time that both the Super Heavy booster and the second stage of the ship successfully made a soft splashdown in water. That means if the ship does it again during Flight 5, SpaceX May Return Second Stage to Launch Pad after flight 6. The second stage is the world's first rocket of its kind to be designed to be fully reusable, as part of SpaceX's drive to radically reduce launch costs and increase speed for successive launches as part of its plans to colonize Mars.