NAIROBI, Kenya – SpaceX has successfully caught the upper stage of its giant Starship rocket after it returned from orbit, marking a major milestone in the company’s push to develop a fully reusable launch system.
The spacecraft, known as Ship 42, was intercepted by two giant mechanical arms attached to the launch tower at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas on Saturday, November 14.
The catch, completed at approximately 3:20pm local time (9:20pm GMT), was the first time SpaceX had recovered a Starship upper stage directly at its launch site after an orbital journey. The achievement followed a mission lasting more than 21 hours and drew cheers from spectators gathered near the Texas launch facility.
The arms, popularly known as Mechazilla’s chopsticks, closed around the descending spacecraft and held it above the launch pad, demonstrating that the vehicle could potentially return to the same infrastructure from which it launched.
SpaceX had previously used the system to catch its Super Heavy boosters, but had never successfully caught the Starship spacecraft itself.
Booster Recovery Attempt Aborted
The historic recovery was not a complete success for the two-stage rocket system.
SpaceX had planned to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the Ship upper stage during Starship’s 15th test flight. However, the booster failed to return to the launch tower as planned shortly after Friday’s launch.
The company later said preliminary indications pointed to a low-fuel-mass alarm that caused the booster to end its boostback burn early. Its guidance system detected that it was not in the correct position for a tower catch and automatically diverted it towards an offshore landing zone in the Gulf of Mexico.
The booster was subsequently destroyed when its flight termination system was activated above the water. SpaceX said it was still investigating the underlying cause of the aborted recovery.
Although the booster was lost, the successful recovery of Ship 42 marked a breakthrough in the company’s effort to make both stages of Starship reusable.
Starship Completes 14 Orbits and Deploys 26 Satellites
During Flight 15, Ship 42 travelled around Earth approximately 14 times at an altitude of about 275 kilometres before beginning its return journey.
The spacecraft also deployed 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites, adding to SpaceX’s expanding satellite internet network.
Three of the satellites carried cameras used to capture images of Starship’s heat shield, giving engineers additional information about the condition of its thermal protection system ahead of atmospheric re-entry.
SpaceX reported that the heat shield was in good condition for the return, allowing the spacecraft to proceed with its planned descent towards Starbase.
The return required Ship 42 to withstand the intense heat generated as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, maintain control using its aerodynamic flaps and perform a precise manoeuvre towards the launch tower.
Why the Successful Catch Matters
The achievement brings SpaceX closer to its ambition of recovering and reusing the entire Starship launch system rather than discarding major rocket components after every mission.
The company, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, wants Starship to provide a reusable transportation system capable of carrying satellites, cargo and people into space.
The rocket is also central to NASA’s plans for returning astronauts to the Moon through the Artemis programme, with the agency selecting a Starship variant to serve as a lunar lander.
However, the successful catch does not mean Starship is already ready for routine commercial operations. SpaceX must still demonstrate consistent performance, inspect the recovered spacecraft and resolve the problems that prevented the booster from being caught.
For now, the recovery of Ship 42 represents a significant step towards a system in which a spacecraft can launch, complete an orbital mission and return to its launch tower for recovery and eventual reuse.
