On October 13th, SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and its reusable booster Super Heavy launched from Boca Chica, Texas. In a world first, Super Heavy returned to the launch tower after separating from Starship and was caught by a pair of chopstick-like arms in a daring maneuver.

After the aborted catch attempt at the launch tower, the Super Heavy booster instead ended up splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico. The main Starship rocket is still on its way around the planet, set to attempt to splash down in the Indian Ocean in around 35 minutes.

The FAA plans to approve SpaceX's request to increase the maximum number of annual Starship launches from its South Texas site from five to 25.