The biggest and most powerful rocket ever built has taken to the skies again. And this time, it came back.
SpaceX launched its 400-foot-tall (122 meters) Starship vehicle for the fifth time ever today (Oct. 13), sending the giant rocket aloft from its Starbase site in South Texas at 8:25 am. EDT (1225 GMT).
“This is a day for the engineering history books,” Kate Tice, SpaceX manager of Quality Systems Engineering, said during live commentary as SpaceX employees screamed and cheered at the company’s Hawthorne, California headquarters behind her. “This is absolutely insane! On the first ever attempt we have successfully caught the Super Heavy booster back at the launch tower.”