SpaceX successfully recovered the Starship spacecraft, which was picked up by giant mechanical arms attached to the launch tower in Texas from which it left 22 hours earlier. The operation represents a significant advance in the development of rocket, which is the largest and most powerful ever built.
© Lusa
14/11/2026
by
Lusa
A SpaceX successfully recovered the Starship spacecraft, which was picked up by giant mechanical arms attached to the launch tower in Texas, from which she left 22 hours earlier.
The recovery occurred around 15:20 locals (21:20 in mainland Portugal).
After about 14 laps to Earth, the spacecraft – more than 50 meters high and with a shape that resembles a projectile – managed to return to the space base as predicted.
Recovery represents an advance in the development of this rocket, the largest and most powerful ever built and designed to make trips to the Moon and Mars and send data centers into space.
SpaceX officials stated that today's maneuver demonstrates Starship's ability to re-use, destined for trips to the Moon and Mars.
The moment was applauded by officials of the American space giant, present on site to attend the operation.
On the eve, the company failed to recover in the same way the Super Heavy propellant, which on Friday fell into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Although it failed, the company successfully managed to achieve three propellant catches previously.
The capture of Starship allows Elon Musk's company to approach a long-standing dream of the space sector, get a fully reusable rocket.
Although it has already revolutionized the world market with the partially reusable Falcon rockets, SpaceX seeks to achieve this goal with Starship, which can enable it to achieve significant savings and speed up flight pace.