SpaceX successfully caught its first-stage booster rocket on Sunday as it returned to the launch pad after a test flight, achieving another novel engineering feat in the company's push to build a reusable Moon and Mars vehicle.

The "Super Heavy" booster lifted off from SpaceX's Boca Chica, Texas launch pad, sending the Starship second-stage rocket towards space before separating at an altitude of about 70km to begin its return to land – the most daring part of the test flight.

The booster re-lit three of its 33 Raptor engines to slow its rapid descent back to SpaceX's launch site, as it aimed for the launch pad and tower from which it had blasted off. The tower, taller than the Statue of Liberty at more than 120 metres, is fitted with two large metal arms at the top.

With its engines roaring, 71 metre-tall Super Heavy booster fell into the launch tower's enclosing arms, hooking itself in place with tiny, protruding bars under the four forward grid fins it had used to steer itself through the air.

"The tower has caught the rocket." SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk wrote on X after the catch. SpaceX engineers watching the company's live stream roared in applause.

The novel catch-landing method marked the latest advance in SpaceX's test-to-failure development campaign for a fully reusable rocket designed to lift more cargo into orbit, ferry humans to the Mon for Nasa and eventually reach Mars – the ultimate destination envisioned by Mr Musk.

Meanwhile Starship, the rocket system's second stage or top half, cruised at more than 27,300kph, 140km up in space, heading for the Indian Ocean near Western Australia to demonstrate a controlled splashdown about 90 minutes into flight.

As Starship re-entered Earth's atmosphere horizontally, onboard cameras showed a smooth, pinkish-purple hue of superhot plasma blanketing the ship's Earth-facing side and its two steering flaps – intense hypersonic friction in a glowing aura.

The ship's hot side is coated with 18,000 heat-shielding tiles that were improved since SpaceX's last test in June, when Starship completed its first full flight to the Indian Ocean but suffered tile damage that made its re-entry difficult.

Starship this time appeared to be more intact on reigniting one of its six Raptor engines to position itself upright for the simulated ocean landing.

The SpaceX live stream showed the rocket touching down in the night waters far off Australia's coast, then toppling on its side, concluding its test mission.

A separate camera view from a vessel near the touchdown site showed the ship exploding into a vast fireball, as SpaceX engineers could be heard on the live stream screaming in celebration. It was unclear whether the explosion was a controlled detonation or the result of a fuel leak.

Mr Musk said the ship landed "precisely on target".

Starship, first unveiled by Mr Musk in 2017, has exploded several times in various stages of testing on past flights, but successfully completed a full flight in June for the first time.

The US Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday approved SpaceX's launch licence for the fifth test, after weeks of tension between the company and the regulator.