{"id":52087,"date":"2026-11-15T01:23:27","date_gmt":"2026-11-15T06:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/2026\/11\/15\/spacex-makes-history-with-successful-rocket-catch-in-texas\/"},"modified":"2026-11-15T01:23:27","modified_gmt":"2026-11-15T06:23:27","slug":"spacex-makes-history-with-successful-rocket-catch-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/2026\/11\/15\/spacex-makes-history-with-successful-rocket-catch-in-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX Makes History With Successful Rocket Catch in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-12m5bll evys1bk0\">SpaceX\u2019s giant Starship spacecraft pulled off a remarkable feat on Saturday afternoon in the quest to build fully reusable rockets. For the first time, the spacecraft successfully returned from orbit to its launch site in South Texas, where it was caught between two mechanical arms on the launch tower.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-12m5bll evys1bk0\">For the past decade, SpaceX has successfully landed the boosters of its smaller Falcon 9 rockets and then reused them on subsequent launches. But the upper stages of the Falcon 9s are still thrown away each time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-12m5bll evys1bk0\">The Starship rocket system is not only much larger than Falcon 9, but it was designed from the start to be fully reusable. Bringing back an upper stage from orbit is a major technical hurdle, and SpaceX was able to pull it off on its first try.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-12m5bll evys1bk0\">Jared Isaacman, the NASA administrator, offered his congratulations on X. \u201cMaking more believers by the day\u2026.one step closer to,\u201d he wrote, adding an emoji of the moon and the American flag. Starship is slated to serve as one of two lander designs that will take astronauts to the surface of the moon as part of NASA\u2019s Artemis program.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-12m5bll evys1bk0\">Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX, posted a video on X showing a view of Starship from below, part of the post-landing inspection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-12m5bll evys1bk0\">A few hours earlier, the spacecraft, which is about 170 feet long, had been traveling at more than 17,000 miles per hour at an altitude of 170 miles. Then, one of its engines fired briefly, nudging it out of orbit to begin its fall back to Earth.<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-121kum4\">\n<div class=\"css-171d1bw\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-asuuk5\"><noscript><\/p>\n<div class=\"css-7axq9l\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"css-1u67kh9\" data-tpl=\"i\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"><\/path><\/svg><\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-1blnbzz\" data-tpl=\"t\">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1blnbzz\" data-tpl=\"t\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/noscript><\/p>\n<div class=\"css-1dv1kvn\" id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<hr\/>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1g71tqy\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-content\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"css-13buknr\" data-tpl=\"sp\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-spinner\"><g fill=\"currentColor\"><path d=\"M11.28 22.8a.72.72 0 1 0 1.44 0v-6.72a.72.72 0 1 0-1.44 0v6.72Z\" opacity=\".37\"><\/path><path d=\"M17.766 21.16a.72.72 0 1 0 1.165-.846l-3.95-5.436a.72.72 0 1 0-1.165.846l3.95 5.437Z\" opacity=\".26\"><\/path><path d=\"M1.506 14.653a.72.72 0 0 0 .445 1.37l6.391-2.078a.72.72 0 1 0-.445-1.369l-6.39 2.077Z\" opacity=\".61\"><\/path><path d=\"M5.07 20.314a.72.72 0 0 0 1.164.847l3.95-5.437a.72.72 0 1 0-1.165-.846l-3.95 5.436Z\" opacity=\".48\"><\/path><path d=\"M22.049 16.022a.72.72 0 0 0 .445-1.37l-6.391-2.076a.72.72 0 1 0-.445 1.37l6.39 2.076Z\" opacity=\".17\"><\/path><path d=\"M22.494 9.347a.72.72 0 1 0-.445-1.37l-6.391 2.078a.72.72 0 1 0 .445 1.369l6.39-2.077Z\" opacity=\".09\"><\/path><path d=\"M6.234 2.84a.72.72 0 0 0-1.165.846l3.95 5.436a.72.72 0 0 0 1.165-.846l-3.95-5.437Z\" opacity=\".87\"><\/path><path d=\"M1.951 7.978a.72.72 0 1 0-.445 1.37l6.391 2.076a.72.72 0 1 0 .445-1.37l-6.39-2.076Z\" opacity=\".74\"><\/path><path d=\"M18.93 3.686a.72.72 0 0 0-1.164-.847l-3.95 5.437a.72.72 0 0 0 1.165.846l3.95-5.436Z\" opacity=\".02\"><\/path><path d=\"M12.72 1.2a.72.72 0 1 0-1.44 0v6.72a.72.72 0 0 0 1.44 0V1.2Z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-1blnbzz\" data-tpl=\"t\">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1blnbzz\" data-tpl=\"t\">Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1blnbzz\" data-tpl=\"t\">Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SpaceX\u2019s giant Starship spacecraft pulled off a remarkable feat on Saturday afternoon in the quest to build fully reusable rockets. For the first time, the spacecraft successfully returned from orbit to its launch site in South Texas, where it was caught between two mechanical arms on the launch tower. For the past decade, SpaceX has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-market","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}