# ‘Can you believe it?’: SpaceX catches part of its Starship rocket on return to Earth

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/can-you-believe-it-spacex-catches-part-of-its-starship-rocket-on-return-to-earth/
- Published: 2026-11-15T00:07:05+00:00
- Original publisher: BBC Science (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cwlym2gy3y3eo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
- Topics: Science, Space, Technology

## Key points

- SpaceX caught Starship’s upper stage for the first time.
- The Ship was caught by launch-tower arms in Texas.
- The booster catch was aborted and it fell into the ocean.

## Summary

SpaceX caught the upper part of its Starship rocket as it returned to Earth, marking the first successful catch of the spacecraft known as the Ship. The test is a step towards the company’s plan to recover and reuse both stages of the rocket.

The Ship was caught by mechanical arms, nicknamed “chopsticks”, on the launch tower in Texas at about 15:27 local time on Saturday, a few minutes later than scheduled. An earlier attempt to catch the booster was aborted; it was diverted to the ocean and broke apart in flames above the water.

## Coverage

- [BBC Science: ‘Can you believe it?’: SpaceX catches part of its Starship rocket on return to Earth](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cwlym2gy3y3eo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss)
- [BBC Science: SpaceX catches part of its Starship rocket on return to Earth](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cw23j8pkk421o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.