Noise measurements from Starship Flight 5 and the first Super Heavy booster catch

During SpaceX's Starship Super Heavy fifth test launch and first booster catch, far-field noise measurements were taken ranging from 9.7–35.5 km. This paper summarizes the findings of a recent Letter [Gee et al., JASA Exp. Let. 4, 113601 (2024)] and includes an additional spectral analysis. The measurement campaign included eight locations in communities around Starbase, Texas. Four significant acoustical events are noted from the waveforms, including maximum liftoff noise, booster flyback sonic boom, landing maneuver noise, and hot-staging ring sonic boom. Metrics, such as Z and A-weighted maximum levels, sound exposure levels, peak overpressure, and perceived level, were calculated for launch and flyback boom events. Comparing the calculated metrics to predictions made in Environmental Assessment documents reveals discrepancies, particularly for the A-weighted sound exposure level. Finally, Starship launch noise is compared to Space Launch System (SLS) and Falcon 9 at 10 and 20 km using the above metrics and spectra. For these distances, the far-field noise levels produced during Starship Flight 5 are approximately 4–6 times that of SLS and at least 10 times that of Falcon 9. This paper is built upon by N. L. Pulsipher et al. in a companion paper describing Flight 6 results.