SpaceX makes history with first successful Starship catch

Elon Musk's SpaceX has successfully caught its Starship spacecraft using mechanical arms for the first time, marking a major milestone in its efforts to develop fully reusable rocket systems.

The spacecraft returned to Earth on Saturday after surviving the extreme heat of atmospheric re-entry before descending between two mechanical arms, known as "chopsticks", at SpaceX's Starbase facility in south Texas.

The achievement demonstrated the feasibility of recovering and reusing the spacecraft, a development that could reduce the cost of space missions and allow more frequent launches.

"That was the Holy Grail of spaceflight, plummeting through fire to be snatched out of the air by steel. We caught a Starship and now, everything changes," SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot said.

The successful recovery took place during the 15th test flight of the world's largest and most powerful rocket system.

During its 22-hour journey, Starship orbited Earth 14 times and deployed 26 satellites for Musk's Starlink internet constellation.

The spacecraft had previously completed 14 test flights, but Saturday's mission marked the first successful attempt to catch it using mechanical arms. SpaceX had already demonstrated the recovery of its booster rockets on three occasions.

Aerospace expert Clayton Swope described the achievement as a major technical accomplishment, saying it demonstrated that the concept of a fully reusable Starship could work.

However, analysts said SpaceX would need to achieve repeated successful recoveries to establish the system's reliability for sensitive payloads and future missions.

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk also celebrated the achievement, sharing videos of the recovered spacecraft on social media.