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AzerNEWS Staff

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SpaceX's Starship rocket has returned from a 22-hour journey in orbit and, for the first time, successfully landed in the giant mechanical arms of the launch tower in Texas, marking a major milestone in the company's decade-long effort to develop a fully reusable rocket system.

According to Reuters, the 52-metre-tall Starship descended through thick clouds above SpaceX's Starbase launch facility, reignited its engines, rotated into a vertical position and slowly settled into the tower's mechanical arms, known as "Mechazilla".

Glowing from the intense heat generated during its return from space, the spacecraft shut down its engines and remained suspended in the arms following the longest mission yet completed by the Starship system.

The two-stage rocket's Super Heavy booster, which forms the lower section of the launch system, lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase facility in Texas on Friday, carrying Starship into space.

However, the booster failed to complete a similar return to the launch tower approximately 10 minutes after liftoff. This setback prevented SpaceX from achieving its goal of recovering both stages of the rocket for the first time.

Despite the booster's unsuccessful recovery, Starship's landing marked a significant step towards SpaceX's ambition of making its next-generation launch system fully reusable.