'Notes' of a Launch

Catching a 30-storey, 500-ton cylinder mid-air with ‘chopsticks’ is a technological marvel. But as I watched SpaceX’s Starship Flight 5 recap, it was the music that captured my imagination. It is often the part most people overlook. To me, music is more than background—it is a narrative, a source of inspiration. I set out to find the original tracks behind these historic moments.

Starship | Fifth Flight Test #

This was SpaceX team’s first (successful) attempt at catching the Super Heavy booster, which is why this 2-minute montage was more special than all previous ones.

• Main track: Ancient Streets, The Last City

Pieces of the main track are scattered all over the video. The sonic boom debut at 1:55 is both visually and sonically prominent. It is such a bold way of signalling the booster’s arrival.

Starship | Sixth Flight Test #

The goal of this flight test was to test re-ignition of the Starship engine in space. Sad that we didn’t get to see a chopstick booster catch this time.

• Main track: Zero Sum, Factor One
• Outro (starts at 1:15 in the video): Variables, Factor One.

10 seconds in, and we know this flight test is focused on the pace of iteration. The overlap of the engine re-light and the beat of the background score starting 0:55 and beyond couldn’t be better…

The outro has a crescendo, emphasizing on turnaround to Flight 7. I think this outro is the best of all Starship Flight Test recaps so far (see those sonic booms mingling in the white smoke during the static fire).

Starship | Seventh Flight Test #

This did not go as planned. The control to Starship was lost in the ascent burn due to a propellant leak.

• Main track: Mission Ready, Factor One

It is a tough job to keep the admirers hooked when you have had 6 launch recaps over the course of a year. The first time I watched this recap I was not impressed - the background score felt muted and secondary. This was the first successful booster catch after Flight 5 and the outro crescendo from Flight 6 raised my expectations.

What was the catch then? I think the visuals in this recap do the job of hooking you in. Switch to 4K60 and skip to 0:38. Now watch it a few times, and feel the tempo starting to grow on you.

There is a sonic boom debut at 1:57, which is where you may find the underscore in the background very appealing. To me, the notes throughout this track beam a light of courage, hope, and consistency.

Oh, and then more sonic booms at 2:46.