SpaceX managed to return the first stage of the Super Heavy rocket to the launch pad for the first time (1 photo + 2 videos)
This event is already being called historic. Elon is one step closer to the coveted Mars. 
The fifth test launch into orbit of the super-heavy reusable two-stage system consisting of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft was carried out from a launch pad in southeastern Texas on Sunday morning. The booster separated from the spacecraft a few minutes later and began moving back to the launch pad. The engineers' calculations turned out to be accurate - the 71-meter booster approached and hovered near the service tower for a few seconds so that the mechanical grippers of the Mechazilla system could catch it. The rocket was controlled manually, Elon Musk's company noted.
It is noted that the tests also provided for a backup option. In the event of failure with an accurate landing, the rocket would have been sunk in the Gulf of Mexico a few kilometers from the cosmodrome.
As for the Starship, after an hour in orbit, it splashed down in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX promised to provide a report on the fifth and most successful launch of the rocket system later. However, some media outlets are already writing that an epochal event has occurred. After all, just three years ago it seemed fantastic that a three-hundred-ton booster could "sit" without manipulators on the tower.
Recall that the first two test launches of Starship ended in failure at the beginning of the flight. The third mission ended in failure at the end of the flight. Following the fourth launch, which took place in July of this year, Starship was able to return to Earth for the first time and splashed down in the Indian Ocean. And now, it is the turn of the booster block, which was able to return to the launch pad for the first time. Progress, as they say, is evident.
