SpaceX completed an amazing first on Sunday, plucking the lower half of its huge Starship launch system out of midair, as euphoric SpaceX employees watched from the control center. But why does SpaceX have to catch it anyway?

The success is a giant leap toward the company's goal to take humans and cargo all the way to Mars on the world's biggest and most powerful launch vehicle

The risky maneuver is a step toward SpaceX’s goal of full reusability for Starship, which is the world’s most powerful rocket, and is key to NASA’s plans to return to the moon.