SpaceX launches Starship rocket in fifth flight; eyes novel booster 'catch'

SpaceX launched its enormous Starship rocket on Sunday on its boldest test flight yet, striving to catch the returning booster back at the pad with mechanical arms.

Towering almost 400 feet (121 metres), the empty Starship blasted off at sunrise from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border. It arced over the Gulf of Mexico like the four Starships before it that ended up being destroyed, either soon after liftoff or while ditching into the sea. The last one in June was the most successful yet, completing its flight without exploding.

This time, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk upped the challenge and risk. The company aimed to bring the first-stage booster back to land at the pad from which it had soared several minutes earlier. The launch tower sported monstrous metal arms, dubbed chopsticks, ready to catch the descending 232-foot (71-metre) booster.

It was up to the flight director to decide, real time with a manual control, whether to attempt the landing. SpaceX said bot