The tech world is buzzing after SpaceX's latest groundbreaking test. This time, they launched the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built—and, for the first time, it made its way back to Earth.
On October 13th, SpaceX launched a 122-meter-long Starship vehicle for the fifth time, and sent the giant rocket aloft from its Starbase site in South Texas. This launch was different; it was a groundbreaking test and a significant innovation in the history of spaceflight. SpaceX had a bold plan to recover Starship’s huge first-stage booster, Super Heavy. Rather than landing it on the ground or ocean, the goal is to catch it mid-air using "chopstick" arms mounted on the launch tower, so it could land right back on its original spot. This was a new approach to rocket recovery that had never been tried before.
This ambitious plan became reality. Just seven minutes after launch, the Super Heavy booster made an incredible precision landing, hovering next to the Mechazilla launch tower. The booster was then caught by the tower's metal arms, securing it back on the launch mount in a bold and innovative maneuver.
"This is a day for the engineering history books," Kate Tice, SpaceX manager of Quality Systems Engineering, said during live commentary as SpaceX employees screamed and cheered at the company's Hawthorne, California headquarters behind her. "This is absolutely insane! On the first-ever attempt, we have successfully caught the Super Heavy booster back at the launch tower." Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and CEO, agreed. "Big step towards making life multiplanetary was made today," he wrote on X after the landing.
But, why was the catch on the first try so important? The BBC’s science correspondent Pallab Ghosh explained the significance of the test thoroughly. He said “If you can reuse the falling parts of the rocket, you can reduce the cost of space exploration. SpaceX and NASA both have big ambitions to send astronauts back to the Moon and even eventually to Mars. For that, they need a spaceship like Starship, which is large enough to carry up to 100 astronauts. If it succeeds, SpaceX will probably have 50, or even 100 launches a year.”
This groundbreaking test once again proved the USA's advancement in technology once again. However, a question comes to mind: What about our own country, Türkiye? How advanced is Türkiye in terms of science and development compared to the USA? It’s important to note that Türkiye and the U.S. have significantly different levels of investment, infrastructure, and policies that influence their scientific development.
In the United States, expenditure on Research and Development (R&D) accounts for 3.45% of the total GDP, translating to approximately $666 billion annually, and as a result, the country has emerged as a pioneer in scientific creativity, more so in industries such as biotechnology, aerospace, and artificial intelligence. In contrast, Türkiye’s expenditure on R&D is only 1.06% of the GDP, or as per 2019 figures, €7.2 billion. While the proportion in Türkiye continues to grow, it is still significantly lower, highlighting the pronounced difference in research power.
The high-tech research laboratories and firms in the United States like SpaceX, NASA, and firms within Stanford or MIT are phenomena that exist at the age of technology. Conversely, high-tech industries in Türkiye are still a work in progress. Türkiye is positively promoting innovation in space and defense technology, automotive and health sectors. For instance, Türkiye plans to send an unmanned spacecraft to the Moon by 2028. Türkiye's advancements in the defense sector have also contributed significantly to its space technology goals. The development of drones like the Bayraktar TB2 and Akinci reflects Türkiye's growing aerospace capabilities. Strategies such as Türkiye's National Space Program are intended to stimulate economic development through creativity, but there are fundamental problems in optimizing those activities. It is generally agreed that the United States is the center of the global science and technology system. However, Türkiye is slowly but surely improving its research proficiency, concentrating on certain domains in order to catch up within innovation and technologies areas.
There is no doubt that the U.S. is the most advanced country in all aspects of technological development in the world; however, Türkiye is also progressing, but in a more gradual manner. The rise of SpaceX, for instance, is a huge milestone and shows what can be done with a high level of spending, facilities and strong improvement-oriented mindset, and Türkiye is also ambitious to take part in scientific innovations like this. Its National Space Program and ambitions towards technology intensive industries indicate that Türkiye aspires to increased participation in the technological community. While distances remain, when R&D, collaboration, and innovation are prioritized rationally, the prospects for Türkiye's development in science and technology are propitious.