I don't think catching (vs. landing) is a "new space era" game changer, but it offers several advantages in a game (chemical rocketry) where some margins are very thin -
- No need for a separate landing pad. Which might need its own flame trench, for reasons others have noted.
- You already have the chopsticks for pre-launch stacking.
- Because you're stacking with chopsticks, you already have those hard points on the Starship. (Hard points are spots engineered to bear heavy loads, in contrast to fragile areas. On large aerospace structures, hard points are expensive in engineering, manufacturing, and weight.)
- Landing legs on a hard surface require larger safety margins. Or a lot of springs, shock absorbers, and such. (Falcon 9's landing legs include those.) That's because the transient loads during an off-by-5-cm landing can be 3X or more the static loads on your landing legs. Vs. if you land on the chopsticks - all the springs and stuff can be built into them. With chemical rocketry's thin margins, not needing to carry that extra weight to space and back is a serious win.
I don't think catching (vs. landing) is a "new space era" game changer, but it offers several advantages in a game (chemical rocketry) where some margins are very thin -
- No need for a separate landing pad. Which might need its own flame trench, for reasons others have noted.
- You already have the chopsticks for pre-launch stacking.
- Because you're stacking with chopsticks, you already have those hard points on the Starship. (Hard points are spots engineered to bear heavy loads, in contrast to fragile areas. On large aerospace structures, hard points are expensive in engineering, manufacturing, and weight.)
- Landing legs on a hard surface require larger safety margins. Or a lot of springs, shock absorbers, and such. (Falcon 9's landing legs include those.) That's because the transient loads during an off-by-5-cm landing can be 3X or more the static loads on your landing legs. Vs. if you land on the chopsticks - all the springs and stuff can be built into them. With chemical rocketry's thin margins, not needing to carry that extra weight to space and back is a serious win.