Watch: SpaceX's Starship completes first-ever midair catch on return from orbit
SpaceX successfully caught its Starship spacecraft using mechanical arms at the Texas launch facility following an orbital flight. This milestone marks a significant step toward the company's goal of developing a fully reusable rocket system to reduce space travel costs.
Why it matters
Successful midair recovery of spacecraft is a critical engineering breakthrough that could drastically lower the financial barrier to space exploration and satellite deployment.
SpaceX's Starship spacecraft returned from a 22-hour journey in orbit on Saturday and was caught by giant mechanical arms at the Texas launch tower from which it had taken off a day earlier, marking the first successful recovery of the spacecraft in midair.The dramatic landing was a major milestone in Elon Musk's effort to develop a fully reusable rocket system. However, SpaceX fell short of its goal of recovering both stages of the rocket after the Super Heavy booster exploded shortly after Friday's launch.The stainless steel spacecraft descended through clouds over SpaceX's Starbase facility, reignited its engines to turn upright and slowly lowered itself into the launch tower's mechanical arms, known as Mechazilla.Its engines shut down after the catch, leaving the charred spacecraft suspended above the ground.SpaceX shared a video of the historic landing, showing Starship descending towards the launch tower before being caught by its giant mechanical arms.
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