SpaceX has just notched another major achievement with the eighth test flight of its Starship rocket, pushing the boundaries of reusable spaceflight. The 400-foot-tall spacecraft ignited its engines at the Starbase facility in Texas, climbing through the atmosphere before soaring across the Gulf of Mexico. The mission included the deployment of dummy satellites before Starship made its planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean, testing critical systems for future deep-space missions.

But the real showstopper was the Super Heavy booster’s return. After powering the launch with its 33 Raptor engines, the massive booster executed a controlled descent back to Texas. Waiting for it on the launchpad were SpaceX’s now-famous “chopsticks,” the towering mechanical arms designed to catch the booster mid-air. In a perfectly timed maneuver, they secured the rocket, marking only the third successful Super Heavy catch—bringing SpaceX another step closer to rapid reusability.

This latest test brings valuable data as the company refines Starship for upcoming missions, including future Mars expeditions and NASA’s Artemis program. With each launch, SpaceX inches closer to making fully reusable, next-generation space travel a reality.