‘Baby, she’s back!’ SpaceX’s Starship is caught midair in a dramatic first

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It was the grand finale that Elon Musk and his team hoped for – the first-ever capture of a Starship flying back from space.

Cape Canaveral: SpaceX’s Starship made a triumphant return to Earth on Saturday (US time), caught by giant mechanical arms on its launchpad.

It was the grand finale that Elon Musk and his team hoped for – the first-ever capture of a Starship returning from space. As the first-stage booster exploded shortly after Friday’s liftoff from Texas 22 hours earlier, the company fell short of its desired double catch, still the goal for accelerating moon and Mars travel.

Booster wreckage was still cordoned off in the Gulf of Mexico, as the sleek stainless-steel spacecraft lowered itself upright onto the pad, sci-fi style.

The capture helped blot out the booster’s messy miss. Cameras panned up and down the spacecraft, supported by the arms of the launch tower.

“Look at her! Baby, she’s back!” shouted SpaceX commentator Dan Huot, then Musk congratulated his “incredible team”.

SpaceX officials said the catch demonstrated Starship’s capacity for full re-use, crucial for rapid and low-cost recycling, while three previous booster catches validated the technique.

NASA welcomed Saturday’s news. The space agency is paying billions for Starship to land Artemis astronauts on the moon later this decade and help build a permanent lunar base. Musk’s ambitions are even grander: he wants to launch a fleet of Starships to build a city on Mars.

“It was almost magic,” NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said via X. “Making more believers by the day ... one step closer.” He added emojis of the moon and the US flag.

The world’s largest and most powerful rocket – a 124-metre behemoth – blasted off from the Starship base near the US-Mexican border, separating neatly from its booster before things went awry.

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