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The upper part of SpaceX’s Starship rocket returned to Earth on Saturday, where it was caught between two mechanical “chopstick” arms in what marked the first-ever “catch” of a spaceship.
Starship had lifted off from Starbase in Texas on Friday before orbiting Earth 14 times as it deployed 26 satellites for Elon Musk’s Starlink internet constellation.
After a 22-hour journey, the spacecraft approached Texas’ east coast, with its three Raptor engines roaring into life as it broke through the clouds and began its descent back to the launchpad.
“Mechazilla catches Starship! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on this incredible achievement!” the company wrote in a post on social media alongside footage of the moment.
“I hugged ship 42 upon its return,” SpaceX CEO Musk added in another post on X.
Crowds outside the Starbase erupted into cheers as the mechanical arms closed around the spaceship for the first time, a moment SpaceX said “changed everything.”
Spaceships have previously been single-use vehicles, making each launch particularly expensive.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called the catch “almost magic.”
“Making more believers by the day,” he wrote on X. Starship is lined up to serve as a landing system for NASA’s Artemis Moon landing mission.
SpaceX had also attempted to guide a Super Heavy rocket booster back to the launch site shortly after Friday’s launch. The effort was unsuccessful, however, with the booster “diverted to an offshore splashdown in the Gulf.” SpaceX has previously carried out three booster catches.
“The booster’s guidance, navigation and control triggered an automated abort during coast and diverted itself successfully to an offshore landing location,” SpaceX said. It added that the boostback burn had “ended early due to low fuel mass” and that the root cause was under investigation.
The successful return of the rocket’s upper stage was nevertheless a huge success for Musk and his company.