SpaceX’s Super Heavy rocket was the star of the show during last week’s test flight after being successfully caught by the launch tower’s giant mechanical arms at the first attempt. Minutes earlier, the Super Heavy booster had deployed the upper-stage Starship spacecraft to orbit as part of the fifth test flight of the world’s most powerful rocket.

The 233-foot-long booster was caught by giant "chop-stick" arms during landing. This technical breakthrough on a rocket eventually headed to Mars demonstrated that it can be used over and over, like a jetliner.

The company completed a successful test flight of the most powerful rocket ever built. Some residents near the Texas site experienced shaking as the landing vehicle was caught by mechanical arms.

The risky maneuver is a step toward SpaceX’s goal of full reusability for Starship, which is the world’s most powerful rocket, and is key to NASA’s plans to return to the moon.

Watch how SpaceX's fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket launches during a test flight but failed to separate and ended with Rapid Unplanned Disassembly (RUD) a few minutes into flight. Cre