SpaceX on Saturday successfully completed the first-ever mid-air recovery of its Starship spacecraft, using giant mechanical arms to capture the returning vehicle at its Texas launch facility.The breakthrough represents a major advance towards developing fully reusable rockets, potentially lowering the cost of space missions and enabling more frequent launches, AFP reported.The spacecraft reappeared through thick clouds after withstanding the intense heat of its return through Earth’s atmosphere.It gradually descended over SpaceX’s Starbase facility before being secured between two enormous mechanical structures, popularly known as ‘chopstick arms’, positioned above Launch Pad 2.Mechazilla catches Starship! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on this incredible achievement! https://t.co/YJzmGUZb2B— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 14, 2026The achievement was greeted with loud celebrations by spectators gathered along the Gulf of Mexico coastline near Starbase. SpaceX’s official livestream accompanied the spacecraft’s final descent with the 1977 hit song ‘Baby Come Back’, the report said.“That was the Holy Grail of spaceflight, plummeting through fire to be snatched out of the air by steel. We caught a Starship and now, everything changes,” SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot said.The operation was part of the 15th test flight of the world’s largest and most powerful rocket system, the report noted. During its 22-hour mission, Starship completed 14 orbits around Earth and released 26 satellites belonging to Elon Musk’s Starlink internet network.Although SpaceX had previously managed to recover its returning Super Heavy booster using the mechanical arms on three occasions, capturing the Starship spacecraft presented a substantially greater challenge, according to AFP. The vehicle returns from a considerably higher altitude and travels at much greater speeds than the booster.Story continues below this adMusk congratulated the company’s engineers and shared footage of the spacecraft suspended between the mechanical arms, describing it as looking “great!”Clayton Swope, an aerospace specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described the operation as a “huge technical achievement and proves the whole idea of Starship as a fully reusable spaceship can work.”However, he added: “Let’s see how quickly they can do it again”, the report said.Kathleen Curlee, an analyst at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, also welcomed the development but stressed that the company would need to demonstrate consistent results.Story continues below this ad“What SpaceX needs is multiple repeated successes to prove the capability… to handle sensitive payloads and missions,” Curlee said.SpaceX had planned Starship’s return trajectory to keep it away from populated areas, according to senior company engineer Lars Blackmore. The spacecraft travelled over sparsely populated desert regions before navigating around towns and executing what Blackmore described as a “giant swoosh maneuver” near Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, approaching its landing location from the east.The Starship programme is central to Musk’s ambitions for a rapidly reusable launch system. The company intends to develop different versions of the spacecraft to deploy internet satellites and orbital data centres, as well as transport astronauts and equipment to the Moon and eventually Mars.NASA also expects Starship to play a crucial role in its Artemis programme as a lunar lander. Agency administrator Jared Isaacman described Saturday’s recovery as “almost magic”.Story continues below this ad“Making more believers by the day… one step closer to (the Moon),” he wrote on X.Musk has outlined an ambitious vision of launching Starship as frequently as once an hour, making it possible to transport large quantities of equipment and infrastructure into orbit.His company has already transformed the commercial space industry through its partially reusable Falcon rockets, which routinely carry satellites into orbit and transport astronauts to the International Space Station.Nevertheless, Starship’s development has encountered repeated delays as engineers work through complex technical challenges. One major obstacle remains the ability to transfer fuel between spacecraft in orbit, an essential requirement for missions to the Moon and Mars.Story continues below this adThe Super Heavy booster also requires further development. During Friday’s operation, a technical problem during its descent forced it to divert into the Gulf of Mexico rather than return to the launch facility for a planned mechanical-arm recovery.SpaceX is meanwhile expanding its manufacturing infrastructure following its high-profile stock market debut in June, which raised approximately $85.7 billion.During a visit to its nearly one-million-square-foot manufacturing facility at Starbase on Friday, company officials told journalists that production capacity had reached one spacecraft every two weeks and one booster every four weeks.