https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1880024050048589841
“Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster!” SpaceX posted on January 16, 2025. On Starship’s seventh flight test the booster flew back to Starbase, Texas and was plucked out of the air by the tower’s chopstick arms. It was only the second catch ever.
The upgraded ship had a worse day. Telemetry was lost about eight and a half minutes after liftoff, before its ascent burn finished. SpaceX says a propellant leak fed fires in the ship’s aft section, and the vehicle broke apart. Debris lit up the sky over the Turks and Caicos, and dozens of airline flights were diverted.
Score: one perfect catch, one lost ship, and no dummy Starlink deployment.
Source: x.com · Also: SpaceX: Starship’s Seventh Flight Test · Reuters