SpaceX successfully carries out historic-first Starship capture

SpaceX's Starship spacecraft nails a triumphant return to Earth from a 22-hour voyage in orbit and descended into the grasp of launch pad arms where its 15th test flight began a day earlier.

The grand finale is the first-ever catch of the upper stage of a rocket flying back from space, which is essential to the company's decades-long pursuit of fully reusable rocket systems.

Starship, riding on top of the massive Super Heavy booster, thundered off from the Starbase facility near the US-Mexico border late Friday afternoon on a flight test aimed to recover both sections of the vehicle.

Less than 10 minutes into its flight, the booster malfunctioned and was diverted from its planned return to the launch site before making a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

Despite the setback, the uncrewed upper stage continued to soar into Earth's orbit where it cruised around the globe and deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites.

After about 22 and a half hours, the bullet-shaped spacecraft began to make its way back towards the Texas coast with a final swoop manoeuvre.

The 52-metre Starship fell out of thick clouds after surviving the blazing heat of re-entering Earth's atmosphere and reignited engines to flip itself vertical.

The vessel then lowered itself upright at the launch pad, slipping between the mechanical "Mechazilla" arms at about 3:20pm Central Time.

Crowds broke into cheers as the sci-fi-like midair capture came into view.

Calling it an "epic day," Elon Musk arrived at Starbase to take up-close video with his phone and even hugged the spacecraft.

SpaceX officials indicate the pinpoint return landing aced the test for Starship's full reusability, which is key to rapid and low-cost recycling for the company's Moon lander bid.

Engineers are still looking into the cause of the booster's automatic abort, with SpaceX commentator Kate Tice saying its engines stopped firing too soon on the way back down.

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{SpaceX successfully carries out historic-first Starship capture}