SpaceX's Starship test ends with a remarkable 'chopstick' booster catch

SpaceX's Starship spacecraft splashed into the Indian Ocean just over an hour after its launch at 8:25 a.m. ET from South Texas. Nearly seven minutes after liftoff, the Super Heavy carrier returned to its launch pad, where the launch tower caught it with arms that SpaceX has dubbed “chopsticks.”

The remarkable catch was a first for SpaceX and an important step toward making the Super Heavy launcher a fully reusable launch system, just like SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets. The launch vehicle completed a similar series of maneuvers as today during its previous flight test in June, when it landed in the Gulf of Mexico instead.

Today's flight test, which was delayed 25 minutes while SpaceX waited for its launch area to be cleared of boats, marks the spacecraft's second full launch, flight and return to Earth. The spacecraft re-entered Earth's atmosphere about 45 minutes after launch and landed in the Indian Ocean at 9:30 a.m. ET. Shortly afterwards, an explosion rocked the ship.

SpaceX redesigned Starship's heat shield for this test after Starship lost fragments of its shielding during reentry in June. The company used new heat shield panels and added an additional ablative support layer ArsTechnica described last week.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave SpaceX approval for the test flight just yesterday. It had originally expected to approve this launch next month, but the FAA and its partner agencies have reportedly completed their assessments of SpaceX's preparations more quickly than expected.

Update from October 13th: Updated to reflect Starship sunk in the Indian Ocean.