SpaceX successfully catches returning Starship rocket

A SpaceX Starship rocket successfully landed upright recently alongside a massive metal landing tower as it was caught by two converging “chopstick” arms — another historic engineering breakthrough for the world’s largest and most powerful rocket.

The launch marked the fifth test flight for Starship, which stands nearly 400 feet tall and is composed of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft. The system is central to founder Elon Musk’s hopes to eventually colonize Mars and to NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the moon.

SpaceX said the spacecraft itself also experienced a successful flight and splashed down “precisely on target.” But it was the booster’s safe landing that marked not only a historic feat of aeronautical engineering but also a major milestone for SpaceX’s goal of full reusability for its rockets. The company hopes this innovation will enable more ambitious space missions, and with greater frequency.

“Big step toward making life multiplanetary was made today,” Musk posted on X after Sunday’s launch.

For years, SpaceX has been landing the booster of its reusable Falcon 9 rocket on barges at sea or a landing pad on land. SpaceX then transports the rocket for refurbishment before bringing it back to the launchpad. The second stage of the Falcon 9, however, is discarded. Having Starship, which is intended to be fully reusable, return to its launch site marks a significant step toward the airline-like operations SpaceX is seeking, where the booster would land, be refueled and fly again.

Still, landing with pinpoint accuracy represents “an enormous step forward in human capability today,” former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield wrote on X. “Makes me even more excited for our collective future.”