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Key takeaways
- Simon Jack Business editor BBCIt's 07:25 am, 13 October 2024, at Starbase, near Boca Chica on the Texas side of the US/Mexico border, and on the launch pad stands the biggest rocket ever made.
- What goes up must come down – and how it comes down will become a milestone in space exploration.
- Seven minutes later, the massive rocket booster that blasted the craft towards space starts falling back to Earth – until its engines reignite as planned.
Why this matters: a developing story that could shape the day's news cycle.
Simon Jack Business editor BBCIt's 07:25 am, 13 October 2024, at Starbase, near Boca Chica on the Texas side of the US/Mexico border, and on the launch pad stands the biggest rocket ever made. Its engines fire and it climbs into the skies over the Gulf of Mexico to cheers and screams in the Space X control room.
But the launch is not the main event. What goes up must come down – and how it comes down will become a milestone in space exploration.
Seven minutes later, the massive rocket booster that blasted the craft towards space starts falling back to Earth – until its engines reignite as planned. It slows its descent and guides itself with pinpoint precision so it can be captured by a clasp called Mechazilla, or "the chopsticks", by engineers who have achieved something that's never been done before.