Starship emerged from the clouds after surviving the intense heat of re-entry, descending slowly over Starbase before being caught by mechanical arms above Launch Pad 2. (AFP pic)NEW YORK: Elon Musk's SpaceX on Saturday pulled off the first-ever "catch" of a spaceship, a technical feat that shows the feasibility of fully reusable rockets and brings affordable spaceflight one step closer to reality.
The Starship emerged from a cloudy sky after surviving the extreme heat of re-entering Earth's atmosphere, then descended slowly over Starbase before slipping smoothly between mechanical "chopstick arms" above Launch Pad 2.
The success marked a milestone in the space industry's decades-long pursuit of fully reusable rocket systems -- a goal that can drastically reduce mission costs and make more frequent launches possible.
