Science & Tech · Space · 27 mins ago
SpaceX catches Starship spacecraft at Texas launch tower
SpaceX caught Starship’s upper stage at its Texas launch tower on Saturday after the spacecraft spent 22 hours in orbit.
The catch was the first time the company had returned this part of the rocket to the launch site.
SpaceX had also planned to catch the lower booster, Super Heavy, but its guidance system detected a problem and diverted it to the Gulf of Mexico, where it exploded.
The two-stage rocket is being tested for repeated use, which could make launches faster and less costly.
That matters as NASA prepares for a planned return of humans to the Moon in 2028, a mission for which it has contracted SpaceX and Blue Origin.
SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk has said the company wants to increase Starship test flights to once a week and then twice a week.
The sources do not specify when the next test flight will take place.
SpaceX’s Starship upper stage returned from orbit and was caught by mechanical arms at its Texas launch tower on Nov. 14.
The catch was the first time SpaceX had recovered the upper stage at the launch site.
The 22-hour test flight included 14 orbits of Earth.
The mission’s planned recovery of both rocket stages failed when the Super Heavy booster diverted and exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.
SpaceX says the catch is a milestone in developing a fully reusable rocket.
- Who
- SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and its Super Heavy booster.
- What
- Starship returned from orbit and was caught by mechanical arms at the launch tower; the booster was not recovered.
- When
- Nov. 14, 2026, after a 22-hour mission.
- Where
- SpaceX’s Starbase launch site in Texas.
- Why
- The catch is part of SpaceX’s effort to develop a fully reusable rocket.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Starship was shown being prepared for a test flight at Starbase, Texas.
Starship launched on its 15th test flight, and its Super Heavy booster later failed to return for a catch.
Starship deployed 26 Starlink satellites while in orbit.
After a 22-hour mission and 14 orbits, Starship returned to the Texas tower and was caught by its mechanical arms.
- Flight
- 15th Starship test flight
- Mission duration
- 22 hours
- Orbits
- 14
- Upper-stage height
- 171 feet (52 meters)
- Satellite deployment
- 26 Starlink satellites
- Launch site
- Starbase, Texas
26 sources
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What people are saying
It was doing what it was supposed to do. Basically, it detected that the booster was not in the place it was supposed to be to proceed with a catch
Posts on X
Mechazilla catches Starship! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on this incredible achievement!
Starship is executing a banking maneuver and final approach as it returns to Starbase for a catch
Flight 15 Update: Starship coasting in orbit, still looking good for return to launch site today. Pad and tower systems are go for catch.