SpaceX's Starship "chopstick landing" technique has made all Kerbal Space Program enthusiasts go green with envy

Kerbal Space Program was one of those games that, once you got the bug, never left you. I still fall asleep at nights imagining new and creative rockets that fail miserably despite not touching the game in over a year.

The familiar itch returned to me when I watched the latest SpaceX Starship boost return footage (via BBC News). Elon Musk's space project has accomplished many impressive feats over the years. But catching a Super Heavy rocket boost in mid-air with chopsticks, turning it upright on its side, and then manoeuvring it down to a launchpad under its own power is a real breakthrough for spaceflight.

What makes this even better? SpaceX engineers thought it was a long shot that this was the first attempt at capturing a rocket booster. The company had taken the tech industry's approach of "move quickly, break stuff" (to an extreme) in previous attempts to launch and land their rocket boosters. This new'mid air catch' method appeared to be its most ambitious version yet.

It's made worse by the fact, that Starship's first flight took place only 18 months ago and ended in an explosion. Now, here it is. Or at least part of it. Gently boosting back down to Earth as if physics was no big deal.

Two minutes before landing, the final checks were being done to determine if the landing was possible or if it would be better to bail out and drop the booster into the Gulf of Mexico.

The call was made and the cheers of the SpaceX team, as well as observers, were enough to send a shiver up the spine. The booster first slowed its descent before manoeuvring itself into position.

Musk and his engineers are hoping that the ship will eventually take a crew to Mars, the Moon and possibly beyond. This section also made a successful "landing", roughly 40 minutes after the first.

This is by far the best of all my KSP attempts, which almost all ended in hilarious disaster. YouTuber Scott Manley is also experimenting with similar rocket launch and return methods. However, even they admit that the footage showing a clean capture was the result of reversing the launch video from a tower.

SpaceX deserves a lot of credit for achieving the impossible on the first try. It's a good thing, too, because NASA hopes to launch the moon lander with the Starship mega rocket for its Artemis 3 Mission, scheduled for 2026.

This latest demonstration seems to show that SpaceX is advancing at a rapid pace. I imagine NASA's main concern will be to deliver its equipment to the Moon in a safe manner, rather than to successfully recover the booster to re-use.

The first test demonstration of the new landing technique is one thing. But, there will be many more tests before the Starship system can be trusted to carry expensive equipment or even actual humans. If things continue at this pace, future astronauts may be using a rocket system that has a special trick. Kerbal Space Program fans will continue to look on in envy and awe.