The company has been doing something similar with its Falcon 9 rocket for years, landing the first stage on the ground near the launch site or on a barge in the ocean.
The Super Heavy booster for Starship, however, is much bigger. It is 232 feet tall and nearly 30feet wide with 33 Raptor engines. The Falcon 9 booster is about 135 feet tall and 12 feet in diameter with nine of SpaceX’s smaller Merlin engines.
And instead of just landing the booster, SpaceX will try to catch it out of the air using what looks like a giant pair of chopsticks that will close around the booster as it arrives at the tower. If that works, the booster will essentially be in position to be refueled for its next launch, saving the time of transporting it back to the launchpad.