According to Reuters, SpaceX's "Starship" spacecraft successfully returned to its launch tower at Starbase, Texas, after its longest orbital flight and 14 times around Earth in more than 22 hours on Saturday, Nov. 14, marking the first major recovery of a major part of this rocket system. According to this report, after deploying 26 Starlink satellites at an altitude of about 260 km and passing through the intense heat of re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, the upper stage of the starship was placed in a vertical position by activating its three engines and restraining it between the two mechanical arms of the launch tower. The success came when the super-heavy booster (the lower part of the rocket) failed to return to the surface about 10 minutes after launch on Friday, delaying SpaceX's plan to recover both parts of the rocket simultaneously in one mission.

According to Reuters, SpaceX's "Starship" spacecraft successfully returned to its launch tower at Starbase, Texas, after its longest orbital flight and 14 times around Earth in more than 22 hours on Saturday, Nov. 14, marking the first major recovery of a major part of this rocket system. According to this report, after deploying 26 Starlink satellites at an altitude of about 260 km and passing through the intense heat of re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, the upper stage of the starship was placed in a vertical position by activating its three engines and restraining it between the two mechanical arms of the launch tower. The success came when the super-heavy booster (the lower part of the rocket) failed to return to the surface about 10 minutes after launch on Friday, delaying SpaceX's plan to recover both parts of the rocket simultaneously in one mission.