Part of SpaceX Starship completes first successful return from orbit into mechanical arms

Detailed summary

Elon Musk’s company falls short of desired double capture after booster exploded shortly after lift-off on Friday ...

SpaceX’s Starship made a triumphant return to Earth on Saturday, caught in mid-air by giant mechanical arms where its journey began 22 hours earlier.

It was the grand finale that Elon Musk and his team hoped for – the first-ever capture of a Starship flying back from space.

But with the first-stage booster exploding shortly after Friday’s lift-off from Texas, the company fell short of its desired double catch.

Wreckage remained in the Gulf of Mexico, cordoned off by buoys, as the stainless steel, bullet-shaped spacecraft lowered itself upright at the launch pad.

The dramatic, sci-fi-like capture helped blot out the booster’s messy miss.

SpaceX officials said Saturday’s catch demonstrates the full reusability of Starship, intended for Moon and Mars travel.

Although Friday’s booster recovery failed, the company had already made three previous booster catches, validating the technique.

The space agency is paying billions of dollars for Starship to land Artemis astronauts on the Moon later this decade and help build a permanent lunar base.

Musk’s ambitions are even grander: He wants to launch a fleet of Starships to build a city on Mars.

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