USA TODAY This time around, SpaceX not only returned the 232-foot rocket booster to the launch site, but snatched it the out of the air with two giant mechanical arms. Engineering teams pulled off the historic feat for the world's largest and most powerful rocket while also replicating a splashdown for the Starship itself in the Indian Ocean. The Starship is integral in NASA's plans of sending people back to the moon and Musk's grand vision of eventually colonizing Mars. The massive Starship spacecraft built and operated by SpaceX flew on its boldest flight test yet, marking a pivotal step forward for the vehicle that will take astronauts to the surface of the moon and one day on to Mars. The Starship, a 400-foot behemouth composed of both a rocket and a vehicle, underwent its fifth uncrewed demonstration Sunday morning from a launch site in Boca Chica near Brownsville, Texas. And this time around, SpaceX founder Elon Musk upped the ante – setting the goal of not only returning the 232-foot rocket booster to the launch site, but snatching it the out of the air with two giant mechanical arms. Engineering teams pulled off the historic feat for the world's largest and most powerful rocket while also replicating a splashdown for the Starship itself in the Indian Ocean. The water landing had first been accomplished in the previous test flight in June after previous flights ended with the Starship exploding. Following the test, a celebratory Musk took his social media site X to proclaim that a "big step towards making life multiplanetary was made today." Musk had spent weeks pressuring and criticizing the Federal Aviation Administration over what he viewed as a "superfluous" delay in approving the Starship for another test flight, which he claimed SpaceX had been ready for since August. While the FAA, which licenses commercial rocket launches, had previously established a November timeframe for approval, the agency gave a last-minute go-ahead on Saturday. The Starship is integral in NASA's plans of sending people back to the moon and Musk's grand vision of eventually colonizing Mars. Musk has previously stated his vision of sending the first Starships to Mars in late 2026, the next time that Earth and Mars line up, followed by crewed flights in 2028. As SpaceX prepares for more test flights, here's what to know about what happened in all the previous launches so far.