Space X successfully catches Falcon Superheavy rocket booster in ‘Mechagodzilla claws’

SpaceX has launched its fifth Starship test flight from Texas and returned the rocket’s towering first stage booster back to land for the first time.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX made an incredible advancement in capability Sunday morning when it launched its Starship rocket — and then managed to catch the Super Heavy booster in the “Mechagodzilla” claws on the launch pad.

The successful test launch — the fifth for the Starship rocket — included the first test of the ability to catch the 20-story tall reusable booster at the Starbase pad near Brownsville, Texas, The NY Post reports.

The rocket’s Super Heavy first stage booster lifted off at 7:25 am local time on Sunday.

The Starship's Super Heavy Booster being grappled mid-air as it returns to the launch pad at Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on October 13, 2024, during the Starship Flight 5 test. Picture: SPACEX / AFP.

The Starship rocket separated from the booster and continued into space.

It is set to travel halfway around the Earth and then re-enter the atmosphere and splash down in the Indian Ocean west of Australia.

BREAKING: SpaceX just successfully caught its Super Heavy rocket booster in mid-air on its first try! This is the first time anyone has accomplished such a feat, marking one of the most significant engineering achievements in human history.

Congrats @SpaceX team! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/Ho7DIUap23

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) October 13, 2024

During a previous launch in June, the rocket booster splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sunday’s launch marked the first time that SpaceX has been able to “catch” the Super Heavy rocket booster in the “chopsticks” of at Starbase. Fans have nicknamed the tower and its movable arms “Mechagodzilla claws.

Musk later posted a video of the catch on X with the elated caption: “The tower has caught the rocket!!”

-With The NY Post

Originally published as Space X successfully catches Falcon Superheavy rocket booster in ‘Mechagodzilla claws’