SpaceX makes history with first-ever mid-air catch of Starship spacecraft | WATCH

Elon Musk's SpaceX has achieved a major breakthrough in spaceflight after successfully catching its Starship spacecraft in mid-air for the first time. The historic manoeuvre, completed on Saturday at the company's Starbase facility, marks a significant step towards developing fully reusable rocket systems that could make space travel more affordable and frequent.

The spacecraft returned to Earth after surviving the intense heat of atmospheric re-entry before descending towards the launch pad. In a carefully executed manoeuvre, Starship was caught by a pair of giant mechanical arms, popularly known as 'chopsticks', positioned above Launch Pad 2.

The achievement drew loud cheers from spectators gathered along the Gulf of Mexico beach near Starbase, who watched the dramatic landing unfold during SpaceX's official livestream.

"That was the Holy Grail of spaceflight, plummeting through fire to be snatched out of the air by steel. We caught a Starship and now, everything changes," SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot said.

Why is the Starship catch significant?

The successful catch is an important development in SpaceX's efforts to make its entire rocket system reusable. Reusing rockets and spacecraft could significantly bring down the cost of space missions and allow companies to conduct launches more frequently.

SpaceX had previously managed to catch its returning booster rockets three times. However, catching Starship presented a much greater technical challenge as the spacecraft descended from a considerably higher altitude and at a much faster speed.

The mission was the 15th test flight of the world's largest and most powerful rocket system.

Starship completes 14 orbits during mission

During its 22-hour journey, the Starship spacecraft completed 14 orbits around Earth and deployed 26 satellites for Musk's Starlink internet constellation.

Musk congratulated the SpaceX team following the successful operation and shared videos of the spacecraft suspended between the mechanical arms, describing it as "looks great!"

The achievement also drew praise from aerospace experts. Clayton Swope of the Center for Strategic and International Studies described the operation as a major technical breakthrough.

"Huge technical achievement and proves the whole idea of Starship as a fully reusable spaceship can work," he said.

"Let's see how quickly they can do it again," he added.

The successful catch has brought SpaceX closer to its ambition of making Starship a fully reusable spacecraft.