SpaceX’s Starship returned from more than 22 hours in orbit Saturday and was secured by the launch tower’s giant mechanical arms after a controlled descent — the first time a spacecraft has been recovered this way from space.
The Mechazilla tower’s “chopstick” mechanical arms locked onto the top section of the Starship following its 15th test launch at Starbase, Texas, despite the lower half of the rocket exploding over the Gulf of Mexico shortly after liftoff Friday.
Over 22 hours, Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket on Earth, completed 14 orbits around Earth at 17,600 mph — nearly 23 times the speed of sound — before returning for…
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