SpaceX Vangt Starship Upper Stage Met Mechanische Armen in Texas

Fourteen orbits around Earth ended Saturday when SpaceX caught the upper stage of a Starship rocket using mechanical arms at a Texas launch base, according to NRC.nl.

The flight marked the fifteenth test of the Starship program and the first time an upper-stage rocket returned from space to land safely upright on land, NRC.nl reported. Most upper stages typically burn up in the atmosphere or remain as space debris. Elon Musk said that fully returning the rocket would enable life on multiple planets, according to NOS.

Liftoff occurred Friday from Starbase in Texas, according to NRC.nl. The vehicle spent roughly twenty-two hours in space before returning through the atmosphere, NOS reported.

At bij eerdere testvluchten lukte het wel om de boosters te vangen, SpaceX had carried out several test flights in recent years, with some resulting in explosions indicating failures, and during September a test flight flew into Earth’s orbit for the first time although an engine failed during launch, according to NOS.

At approximately 15:20 local time on Saturday, the 50-meter-high upper stage was secured by steel arms on the launch tower, according to NOS. Those fixtures carry the nickname “chopsticks.”

“That was the holy grail of space development: plunging through fire to then be snatched out of the sky by steel,” a SpaceX spokesperson told AFP.

Technical problems forced operators to abandon plans to catch the Super Heavy booster with the tower arms, NOS reported.

The booster was redirected to the Gulf of Mexico for a water landing where it broke apart just above the surface, according to NOS. Kate Tice, director of quality management at SpaceX, called the booster’s destruction “absolutely not the news we were hoping for,” noting the diversion followed strict safety controls.

KeyBanc maintained a Sector Weight rating on SpaceX ahead of the launch, noting the flight served as a test of fixes following anomalies during Flight 14 in September 2026, Invezz reported. Morgan Stanley Adam Jonas maintained an Overweight rating and a $300 price target, describing a successful catch of both stages as a major historical milestone.

Starship is the largest rocket in the world, standing 124 meters tall, with its upper stage measuring roughly 50 meters in height, according to NOS.

SpaceX officials diverted the Super Heavy booster to the Gulf of Mexico due to safety concerns after an unspecified technical problem during its return flight, according to NOS.

The booster descended toward the water and disintegrated just above the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, according to NOS.

The test flight concluded on Saturday afternoon local time with the successful recovery of the upper stage after fourteen orbits.

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