SpaceX pulls off first-ever spaceship 'catch'

Detailed summary

The Starship emerged from a cloudy sky after surviving the extreme heat of re-entering Earth's atmosphere, then descended slowly over Starbase before slipping smoothly between mechanical "chopstick arms" above Launch Pad 2.

Elon Musk's SpaceX on Saturday pulled off the first-ever "catch" of a spaceship, a technical feat that shows the feasibility of fully reusable rockets and brings affordable spaceflight one step closer to reality.

The Starship emerged from a cloudy sky after surviving the extreme heat of re-entering Earth's atmosphere, then descended slowly over Starbase before slipping smoothly between mechanical "chopstick arms" above Launch Pad 2.

The success marked a milestone in the space industry's decades-long pursuit of fully reusable rocket systems -- a goal that can drastically reduce mission costs and make more frequent launches possible.

"That was the Holy Grail of spaceflight, plummeting through fire to be snatched out of the air by steel. We caught a Starship and now, everything changes," SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot said.

Crowds gathered on the Gulf of Mexico beach near Starbase broke into ecstatic cheers as the spaceship came into view, with 1977 soft rock hit "Baby Come Back" serving as the soundtrack of the nerve-wracking final descent on SpaceX's official livestream.

It was the 15th test flight of the world's biggest and most powerful rocket system.

The Starship spacecraft that gives the rocket system its name orbited Earth 14 times and deployed 26 satellites for Musk's Starlink internet constellation during its 22-hour journey.

Until now SpaceX had captured returning booster rockets three times. However, the "catch" of Starship was extraordinarily complex because the spaceship fell much faster and from a much higher altitude compared to boosters.

Musk congratulated the SpaceX team and posted videos of the spaceship hanging between the chopstick arms, saying the vessel "looks great!"

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