In the coming month, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is set to make history based on a “profound technology milestone” by attempting to catch both parts of its Starship rocket.
The milestone will involve Starship 42 and SpaceX’s upcoming Flight 15 test launch that is expected to launch from the Starbase facility in early November.
During the flight test of the world’s biggest rocket, both the Starship upper stage and Super Heavy booster will attempt to land a launch tower.
Up to this point, SpaceX’s “Mechazilla” chopstick arms on the launch tower were used to catch the massive Super Heavy booster, the bottom half of the rocket, upon return.
Catching the upper stage which is the Starship spacecraft itself is significantly more difficult.
After returning from orbit and surviving intense atmospheric reentry heating, the ship must execute a belly-flop maneuver, flip upright, hover, and align precisely into the mechanical arms of the launch tower to be caught in mid-air.
Ship 42 is slotted to be the first upper-stage spacecraft in history to attempt and achieve this mid-air tower catch.
Taking to X, Musk, SpaceX boss wrote, “As the prophecy foretold, Starship 42 will be the first tower catch.”
SpaceX completed key tests this week on Ship 42 and Booster 22 at Starbase in Texas, paving the way for Flight 15’s bold plan to catch both the Super Heavy booster and upper stage Ship with the launch tower.
Elon Musk said in an earnings call with investors, “If we succeed, it will be the first time that an orbital launch vehicle has been fully recovered.”
“This is, I think, a profound technological milestone in the history of civilization and consciousness.”
SpaceX has successfully caught the Super Heavy booster in three test flights and achieved ocean splashdown with the Starship upper stage.
Elon Musk noted that success is not guaranteed on upcoming early test flights (like Flight 15), but deemed it “more likely than not.” Multiple test flights are scheduled through the end of the year, accelerating into the next.
SpaceX aims to fly Starship rockets twice a week by 2027.
While initial flights will require refurbishment, the long-term goal is immediate landing and re-launch, similar to commercial airplanes.
If the double catch tower attempt proves successful, this will mark the first time an entire full-stack rocket system is recovered out of the air without using landing legs or ocean splashdown.
