According to three sources, SpaceX is in talks with US and Australian officials to land and recover one of its Starship rockets off Australia’s coast. This could be the first step towards a larger presence for Elon Musk’s company in the region as the two countries strengthen their security ties.
Since June, when a Starship rocket performed its first controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean, SpaceX has been anxious to expand its testing program. Successful landings and booster recovery are critical components of the rapid development of the massive, reusable rocket meant to deliver satellites into orbit and land astronauts on the moon.
The aim is to launch Starship from a SpaceX facility in Texas, land it in the ocean off Australia’s coast, and recover it on Australian soil. Obtaining clearance would necessitate relaxing US export regulations on sophisticated space technologies heading for Australia, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
President Joe Biden’s administration has already pushed to remove similar limits within the AUKUS security alliance, which includes the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom and is geared at opposing China.
SpaceX, the United States Space Force, and the Australian Space Agency did not immediately respond to demands for comment.
Towing Starship from the ocean or on a barge to a nearby port on Australia’s western or northern beaches would be ideal, though more exact plans and sites are still being considered, according to the sources.
The exchanges highlight the United States’ determination to assist Australia in developing its military as a deterrence to an increasingly assertive China in the region.
The planned SpaceX agreement would increase trust in a close American ally that has long desired to expand its space defense program, enhance civil and military space links with the United States, and grow its own space industrial base.
According to insiders, recent discussions between SpaceX executives and US and Australian authorities have focused on regulatory challenges in bringing a recovered Starship booster ashore in a foreign nation. Because the talks are ongoing, the timeframe of any Starship landing off Australia remains unknown.
The SpaceX Starship passes over the earth during its fourth flight test from the company’s Boca Chica launchpad.
A still image from a video shows the SpaceX Starship passing over the Earth during its fourth flight test from the company’s Boca Chica launchpad near Brownsville, Texas, US, on June 6, 2024. SpaceX/Handout via REUTERS/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights (opens new tab)
According to the sources, the proposed test landings are likely to be the first phase of SpaceX’s larger future Australian presence, which could include launching from a facility on the continent or landing a Starship booster on land rather than in the ocean, though discussions on those possibilities are still in the early stages.
SpaceX tested its partially reusable Falcon 9 on the ocean before attempting touchdowns on land and atop barges at sea roughly a decade ago. Falcon 9 is currently SpaceX’s workhorse rocket, with its first-stage booster performing hundreds of regular landings from space.
A rising rocket.
Starship is a two-stage rocket standing 400 feet (120 meters) tall and meant to be totally reusable. It is SpaceX’s next-generation rocket system, designed to launch massive numbers of satellites into space, land NASA astronauts on the moon’s surface, and perhaps transport military supplies around the world in under 90 minutes.
Starship’s June test flight was its most successful yet. Starship was launched from Texas into space on a suborbital trajectory, freefalling at hypersonic speeds back through Earth’s atmosphere before restarting its engines for a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean around 90 minutes later. The Super Heavy booster landed in the Gulf of Mexico.
Previous test flights had resulted in Starship collapsing before a safe landing could be made. According to many people familiar with the effort, the June mission prompted SpaceX to embark on a new phase of more challenging landing testing.
The US Air Force Research Laboratory’s hypothetical “Rocket Cargo” program involves employing suborbital rockets to quickly transfer military cargo around the world in 90 minutes, known as point-to-point delivery. According to US defense officials, some in the Pentagon saw the Starship test launch in June as a critical showcase of this mission.
A Starship launch from Texas and landing off Australia might demonstrate point-to-point delivery.
While still in its early stages, the delivery time for rocket-based cargo around the planet – taking advantage of orbital velocity of 17,000 miles per hour (27,350 kph) and hypersonic reentry through Earth’s atmosphere – would be a fraction of the 12 to 24 hours typically required for traditional aircraft.
Since 2021, SpaceX has been researching how to deploy the Starship for those deliveries under a $102 million Pentagon contract. According to budget documents for 2025, the program will go on to a more serious prototype effort with the United States Space Force.
