Mechanical chopsticks on the launch tower grab a returning rocket and Starship splashes down on target

SpaceX's engineers performed two significant feats on Saturday: catching Starship's Super Heavy Booster with mechanical arms on the rocket's launch tower, and achieving a pinpoint landing of Starship itself in the Indian Ocean.

The flight was the fifth for SpaceX's monster rocket, which comprises the Super Heavy Booster and the payload-carrying Starship itself. It came a day after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a license modification authorizing the launch from SpaceX's facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

The license authorized a mission that would see Starship reach sub-orbital altitude, before re-entering and making a water landing in the Indian Ocean, and the catch attempt by arms dubbed Mechazilla on the launch tower. It also included exceptions if things didn't go well – such as Starship failing to handle the heat of re-entry, under which circumstance SpaceX was allowed to conduct an uncontrolled landing provided ...