Photo: SERGIO FLORES / AFP / Getty Images
SpaceX made history on Sunday (October 13) after it was able to successfully snag its 233-foot Super Heavy rocket booster out of the sky. The company launched its 400-foot Starship vehicle from its Starbase in Texas at 8:25 a.m. to test the ability of giant mechanical arms to catch the rocket booster after it detaches from the Starship vehicle.
The test went off without a hitch as the booster detached and activated its 33 Raptor engines to slow its descent back to Earth. As the rocket booster approached the tower, the "Mechazilla arms" grabbed the rocket and secured it.
"This is a day for the engineering history books," Kate Tice, SpaceX manager of Quality Systems Engineering, said as the booster was grabbed out of the air. "This is absolutely insane! On the first-ever attempt, we have successfully caught the Super Heavy booster back at the launch tower."
"The tower has caught the rocket!!" SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X, along with a video of the historic landing.