Elon Musk's 'Mechazilla' Catches Starship Rocket In Historic First, Brings Full Reusability Closer

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Elon Musk's 'Mechazilla' Catches Starship Rocket In Historic First, Brings Full Reusability Closer Summary: The Path Towards Full Reusability Of Mega Rocket Full Steam Ahead Super…

SpaceX lost the booster Friday but made a historic catch of Starship on Saturday evening using the "chopsticks" mechanical arms attached to its launch tower at Starbase, Texas.

Test Flight 15 was supposed to deliver an even bigger milestone: catching both the Super Heavy booster and Starship. But the double catch will have to wait for a future flight.

SpaceX has now demonstrated that both stages of the rocket can be caught, with the Super Heavy booster having been caught on previous test flights.

Rapid reuse remains Musk's big focus. These advances could drive down launch costs and help make data centers in low Earth orbit commercially viable, beyond the reach of Democrats positioning to crush America's reindustrialization projects next year.

Update (Friday 1800ET): Unfortunately, SpaceX's attempt at a Starship double catch was thwarted this evening.

A few minutes after launch, the company canceled plans to retrieve the booster of its powerful Starship rocket, citing a technical issue, sending the so-called Super Heavy into the Gulf of Mexico, where it promptly exploded.

SpaceX had previously said it would only proceed with the maneuvers if conditions were optimal.

A 75-minute launch window for Starship's 15th test flight from SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas opens at 5:45 p.m. EST.

SpaceX wrote on its website that this evening's mission plans to deploy 26 next-generation Starlink satellites and bring both stages back of the rocket back to the launch tower for giant "chopsticks" to catch.

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