Elon Musk's SpaceX company made a surprising advancement in capabilities when it launched its Starship rocket Sunday morning. After that, he succeeded in catching the Super Heavy Booster with the claws of “Mechagodzilla” on the launch pad.
The Starship rocket's fifth successful launch included a first test of its ability to catch a 20-story-tall reusable booster at the Starbase pad near Brownsville, Texas.
The Starship rocket separated from its booster and headed into space. It is scheduled to circle halfway around the Earth, re-enter the atmosphere, and splash down in the Indian Ocean.
The previous launch in June resulted in a rocket booster falling into the Gulf of Mexico.
Sunday's launch marked the first time SpaceX was able to “catch” a superheavy rocket booster with Starbase's “chopsticks.” Fans have dubbed this tower and its movable arm “Mechagodzilla's Claw.”
Musk later posted the captured video to X with the gleeful caption: “The tower caught the rocket!!”
