SpaceX recovers Starship booster on first test flight

SpaceX on Sunday recovered the booster of its Starship spacecraft after a nearly nine-minute test flight as it was returning to its launch pad. It's an achievement that could be a decisive step toward reusability of the heavy launcher.

Before the "Super Heavy" booster touched the ground, mechanical arms installed on the launch tower, nicknamed "the chopsticks," closed on the device and immobilized it. The event was recorded in a video released by Elon Musk's company.

Recovering the booster allows it to be reused on future launches, which reduces costs and increases the efficiency of space operations. This test flight is crucial to validate recovery technology.

Billionaire Elon Musk's company aims to use Starship to colonize Mars, and NASA is closely monitoring the performance of these spacecraft, as it plans to use them to send its astronauts to the moon.