The Starship spacecraft, led by American tech entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX, has successfully completed its first ground recovery. The astonishing scene, reminiscent of a video played in reverse, left viewers who watched the live broadcast in disbelief.

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On the 13th (local time), Starship's test flight, which was broadcast live on X and other platforms, concluded successfully. The massive rocket, measuring 71 meters in length and 9 meters in diameter, returned to its launch site just seven minutes after liftoff and was caught by robotic arms resembling giant chopsticks. With this, a fully automated launch vehicle system, from liftoff to landing and rocket recovery, has been completed.

The Super Heavy rocket used in this launch experiment landed on the ground using a retro-propulsion method. This approach, also seen with SpaceX's cargo rocket Falcon 9, involves reigniting the rocket as it nears the ground to reduce speed, then gradually adjusting its position to land precisely at the target spot.

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Above all, the rocket must be caught precisely between two robotic arms, requiring highly advanced control technology. The SpaceX engineering team essentially threw a chunk of metal the size of a skyscraper into the sky and recovered it with pinpoint accuracy.

Musk also showed special affection for the rocket recovery tower equipped with robotic arms, naming it "Mechazilla" after the movie monster Godzilla.

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Viewers who witnessed this scene expressed disbelief. One X user asked Musk on his account, "Is this real?" In response, Musk personally replied, "It's science fiction. Only the fiction part is missing."

Kate Tice, a SpaceX engineer who hosted the Starship test flight's online live broadcast, said, "Today is a day that will be recorded in the history books of engineering," adding, "No one can believe it. When the chopsticks caught the rocket's booster, I was struggling to hold back tears."

With this, SpaceX has succeeded in recovering the Starship's first-stage booster on its fifth attempt. Previously, four attempts at orbital test flights?in April and November last year, and March and June this year?were not fully successful.

This experiment has enabled the recovery of the first-stage booster on Earth, and the second-stage spacecraft currently in orbit will attempt to return to Earth and splash down in the Indian Ocean after completing its scheduled flight. SpaceX believes this recovery technology could dramatically reduce the costs of deep space exploration and space cargo transport.

Starship is the key spacecraft for Musk's plan to enable humanity's migration to Mars.