SpaceX caught its 171-foot Starship upper stage with the mechanical arms of its Texas launch tower on Saturday marking the first time an orbital-class rocket has been captured in midair.
“One of the most incredible and historic engineering feats of all time has just happened right in front of our eyes,” said SpaceX commentator Jessie Anderson during the company’s livestream.
Flight 15 Update: Starship coasting in orbit, still looking good for return to launch site today. Pad and tower systems are go for catch. pic.twitter.com/vMkjoZdxa6
Ship 42 Settles into the Launch Gantry Mechanical Arms
The upper stage, designated Ship 42, settled into the launch gantry’s mechanical arms at 4:20 p.m. EST after spending approximately 22.5 hours in space and completing 14 orbits around Earth. The spacecraft restarted three of its six methane-fueled Raptor engines to flip vertical, slowing to a near hover as the robot arms closed around the vehicle.
As crowds of onlookers gathered near the Texas shore cheered, the massive craft drifted down toward the tower, throttled back its propulsion units, and locked into the dual mechanical arms of the installation, accompanied by the loud cheers and applause of nearby SpaceX personnel.
IT HAPPENED pic.twitter.com/KHITqHUWOf
Measuring 407 feet in height, the two-stage launch vehicle stands as the most powerful ever constructed, producing approximately 16 million pounds of thrust at launch from 33 first-stage Raptor engines.
The milestone followed the 15th test flight of the Starship system, which lifted off from the Starbase facility in South Texas on November 13 at 5:47 p.m. EST. During its time in orbit, the vehicle deployed 26 next-generation Starlink V3 broadband satellites, repeating a payload delivery accomplished during Flight 14 in September.
Certain Starlink units captured footage and photographs of Ship 42’s thermal protection system to evaluate its structural integrity ahead of the landing maneuver, drawing upon telemetry from tracking devices and onboard cameras to gauge its post-reentry condition following its fiery descent toward the Texas Gulf Coast launch facility.
Lars Blackmore, senior principal Mars landing engineer for SpaceX, noted during the mission’s video broadcast that once the rocket flew over land, there was an intense 21-minute period where operators could not make any changes, leaving the team holding their breath.
“That was the missing link. That was the holy grail of spaceflight, plummeting through fire to be snatched out of the air by steel. We caught a Starship, and now everything changes,” said SpaceX’s Dan Huot.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman congratulated SpaceX on Saturday, stating via X, It was almost magic.
Booster Diversion in the Gulf of Mexico
While the upper stage recovery succeeded, the mission’s parallel ambition of a double catch fell short when the Super Heavy first stage diverted shortly after liftoff. The booster’s guidance, navigation and control system triggered an automated abort after detecting that the vehicle was not in the correct position to proceed with a tower capture. Going into the flight, SpaceX had successfully recovered first-stage boosters used in three previous launches.
“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,” Huot said.
On Friday, November 13, Starship lifted off from Starbase, Texas on its 15th flight. On Saturday, November 14, Starship returned to Starbase, Texas, and changed everything → https://t.co/K5XRci6bnw pic.twitter.com/smWs1qSDuZ
According to Musk, the booster is engineered to touch down with just a tiny reserve of propellant, leaving very little room for error regarding engine performance fluctuations.
“This booster loss does not change our timeline to reach high volume, fully reusable Starship flights,” Musk said.
Yes, the green flame is caused by burning copper from depleting fuel in the regenerative cooling circuit and going oxygen-rich (closer to stoichiometric temperature) in the main combustion chamber. Slight underperformance of engines on this flight is the reason. The booster is…
The booster headed out to an offshore splashdown location in the Gulf of Mexico, where its flight termination system activated, destroying the vehicle above the water as remaining propellants burned off and it disappeared from view before appearing to rise back out of the sea.
Commercial and Artemis Program Implications
Full reusability of both rocket stages is central to lowering launch costs for deploying massive satellite constellations and supporting NASA’s lunar exploration goals.
Congrats to @elonmusk and the @SpaceX team! It was almost magic.. Making more believers by the day….one step closer to 🌖🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/PYs9yNQMdg
SpaceX plans to begin orbital fueling tests in the next several Super Heavy-Starship flights. While keeping options open regarding alternative contractors such as Blue Origin, the agency has established 2028 as its target year for landing astronauts on the moon; it has also acknowledged that development schedules have slipped beyond initial projections, leaving it prepared to utilize Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 vehicle depending on which system finishes testing first.
Earlier coverage: SpaceX Fails Double Catch With Starship Rocket
Booster was slightly low on fuel
More on Starship
Mechazilla catches Starship! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on this incredible achievement! pic.twitter.com/YJzmGUZb2B
Starship is traveling around the world every ~90 minutes right now