Sundar Pichai extended his congratulations to Elon Musk after SpaceX completed its most daring test flight of the massive Starship rocket on Sunday. In an impressive demonstration, SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, successfully caught the returning booster of its Starship rocket using mechanical arms located at its launch pad.
Elon Musk shared footage of the booster’s capture on his social media platform, X. “The tower has caught the rocket,” Musk wrote, referring to the booster’s return to the launch pad just seven minutes after it had initially launched.
The launch pad’s giant mechanical arms, known as “chopsticks,” caught the descending 232-foot (71-meter) stainless steel booster, gripping it securely and suspending it high above the ground.
This achievement marks the first time SpaceX has retrieved a rocket booster directly on its launch pad, as opposed to landing it on floating ocean platforms. The milestone drew praise from millions of people, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
In response to Musk’s video, Sundar Pichai commented, “Huge congrats, have to admit, rewatched the video many times over, incredible to see!”