The company captured the Starship upper stage out of midair for the first time in an unprecedented recovery operation. Mechanical arms nicknamed "chopsticks" were used to safely grab the giant spacecraft upon its descent. The vehicle successfully touched down at the exact same launch pad from which it had departed 22 hours earlier.
NewsFeed
SpaceX’s Starship nails a smooth return with historic catch
SpaceX has caught the upper stage of its giant Starship rocket in midair for the first time, using mechanical arms nicknamed ‘chopsticks’. The spacecraft made a triumphant return to Earth, landing at the same launch pad it left 22 hours earlier in a milestone moment for the company.
Published On 15 Nov 2026
Aerospace leaders including Google CEO Sundar Pichai praised SpaceX after its Starship spacecraft executed a historic return from orbit to its Texas launch site. The upper stage was captured upright by the launch tower's mechanical arms, marking the first time such an orbital vehicle was caught to achieve complete hardware reusability. This milestone significantly advances operational goals to eliminate the need to discard rocket stages following space missions.
Elon Musk's SpaceX has achieved the first-ever catch of a spaceship, a feat documented on video. The event marks a significant milestone in the space industry's decades-long pursuit of fully reusable rocket systems.
Giant mechanical arms at a Texas launch pad successfully secured the returning spacecraft on Saturday following a 22-hour orbital mission. Demonstrating this recovery method is vital for lowering deep-space mission costs, drawing praise from NASA as it prepares Starship to land astronauts on the Moon. However, the flight was bittersweet as the first-stage booster failed to execute a planned catch and exploded over the Gulf of Mexico.