SpaceX launched its enormous Starship rocket on Sunday on its boldest test flight yet, catching the returning booster back at the pad with mechanical arms.
Towering almost 121 meters, the empty Starship blasted off at sunrise from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border.
It arced over the Gulf of Mexico like the four Starships before it that ended up being destroyed, either soon after liftoff or while ditching into the sea.
The last one in June was the most successful yet, completing its flight without exploding.
This time, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk upped the challenge and risk.
The company brought the first-stage booster back to land at the pad from which it had soared seven minutes earlier. The launch tower sported monstrous metal arms, dubbed chopsticks, that caught the descending 71-meter booster.
It was up to the flight director to decide, in real-time with manual control, whether to attempt the landing. SpaceX said both the booster and launch tower had to be in good, stable condition.
