The SpaceX Starship has successfully landed in Texas after its most daring test flight yet.
Elon Musk’s 400-foot rocket blasted off from close to the Mexican border at dawn before landing on metal ‘chopsticks’ – a pad with mechanical arms.
It followed the same path across the Gulf of Mexico as the four previous spaceships, which were eventually destroyed either shortly after liftoff or by hitting the sea.
“Even today, what we just saw is magic,” SpaceX’s Dan Huot noted from near the launch site after the booster landed. “I’m shaking right now.”
At almost 400 feet (121 meters) high, the empty rocket blasted off at dawn from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border
“The tower caught the missile!!” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said via X.
Company employees shouted with joy as the booster slowly lowered itself into the arms of the launch tower.
“Folks, this is a day for the tech history books,” SpaceX’s Kate Tice added from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
SpaceX returned the first stage booster to land where it had lifted off seven minutes earlier.
The launch tower had monstrous metal arms called chopsticks that caught the descending 71-meter (232-foot) booster.
It was up to the flight director to decide in real time using manual controls whether to attempt a landing.
SpaceX said both the booster and launch tower had to be in good, stable condition. Otherwise it would end up in the wave like the previous one.
It was judged that everything was ready for the capture.
This time, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk increased the challenge and risk
The retro-looking stainless steel spacecraft on top went around the world once free of the booster, aiming for a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean, where it would sink to the bottom.
The entire flight was expected to take just over an hour.
The June flight fell short at the end after pieces came loose. SpaceX upgraded the software and reworked the heat shield, improving the thermal tiles.
This is a current news story with updates to follow.