Reuters, the respected news agency, cited sources that said the operation could even pave the way for the Elon Musk-backed firm to launch rockets from the continent in future.
It comes after Starship celebrated its most successful test flight yet in June when it conducted a soft splashdown for the first time. However, the company crucially didn’t attempt to recover the upper stage when it executed a “flip manoeuvre” and came to a rest in the Indian Ocean.
On Monday, Reuters suggested the fresh proposal, if signed off by both the US and Australian governments, would see SpaceX tow Starship over water “to a nearby port on Australia’s western or northern coasts”, mirroring a similar procedure used to test Falcon 9 a decade ago.
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Starship is the collective name for the SpaceX Super Heavy booster rocket and Starship spacecraft, destined to fly humans to Mars one day.
Its first launch failed to reach orbit in April last year but surpassed expectations by crucially passing through Max Q, the period in which the spacecraft endures maximum dynamic pressure.
A second launch in November went one better with a successful first-stage separation, and the third launch in March 2024 finally reached orbit but without a successful soft landing.
The fourth launch, though, was hailed by Musk as a “great day for humanity’s future as a spacefaring civilisation”.
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“Nothing unites us more than working together towards inspiring objectives,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a post-blast-off debrief, SpaceX listed the mission’s achievements as follows:
“The Super Heavy booster lifted off successfully and completed a full-duration ascent burn.
“Starship executed another successful hot-stage separation, powering down all but three of Super Heavy’s Raptor engines and successfully igniting the six-second stage Raptor engines before separating the vehicles.
“Following separation, the Super Heavy booster successfully completed its flip manoeuvre, boost back burn to send it towards the splashdown zone, and jettison of the hot-stage adapter.
“The booster’s flight ended with a landing burn and splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico seven minutes and 24 seconds into the flight.
“Starship’s six second stage Raptor engines successfully powered the vehicle to space and placed it on the planned trajectory for coast.
“Starship made a controlled re-entry, successfully making it through the phases of peak heating and max aerodynamic pressure and demonstrating the ability to control the vehicle using its flaps while descending through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.
“Starlink on Starship once again enabled real-time telemetry and live high-definition video throughout every phase of entry, with external cameras providing views all the way to the flight’s conclusion.
“Flight 4 ended with Starship igniting its three centre Raptor engines and executing the first flip manoeuvre and landing burn since our suborbital campaign, followed by a soft splashdown of the ship in the Indian Ocean one hour and six minutes after launch.”
Aside from Musk’s plans to send Starship to Mars, a version of the spacecraft is set to be used to return humans to the lunar surface as part of Artemis III.
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.
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