SpaceX caught the upper stage of its Starship rocket with mechanical arms at its Texas launch site on Saturday, completing the first-ever mid-air capture of the spacecraft after a 22-hour orbital flight.
The 52-meter spacecraft launched from Starbase in Texas on Friday afternoon for the 15th test flight of the system. It orbited Earth 14 times, deployed 26 Starlink satellites, and returned to the launch tower around 4:20 PM ET on Saturday. The vehicle descended into the clutch of the tower's mechanical arms, nicknamed "chopsticks."
The lower booster stage, called Super Heavy, failed to return. It aborted its planned catch minutes after launch and exploded over the Gulf of Mexico. SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot said the guidance system detected the booster was not in the correct position to proceed with a catch. Chief executive Elon Musk said the booster was "slightly low on fuel."
The catch marks the first time SpaceX has recovered the upper stage of Starship, though the company has previously caught boosters on earlier launches. The 124-meter rocket system consists of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage, both designed to be reused. SpaceX officials said the successful catch shows the vehicle's full reusability.
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman praised the 15th flight on X, writing "Making more believers by the day" and "One step closer to [the moon]." The agency has contracted SpaceX to use Starship for its plan to return humans to the lunar surface in 2028.
Musk has said he wants to use Starship to carry humans to Mars. He has sought to make the rocket rapidly reusable so it can land and take off like standard airplanes. SpaceX plans to ramp up Starship test flights to a weekly, then twice-weekly cadence.
