SpaceX will try for 1st Starship tower catch 'in a few months,' Elon Musk says
SpaceX will likely try to make the first-ever catch of its Starship upper stage a few months from now, according to Elon Musk. He had earlier flagged late August as a potential date for the milestone.
Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and CEO, has announced that the company plans to attempt the first-ever catch of Starship's upper stage using a tower on a future test flight, scheduled for late August. However, Musk clarified that this milestone may not be achieved by then, and instead, the attempt might happen in a few months. Starship, a powerful and fully reusable rocket system, consists of a massive first-stage booster called Super Heavy and an upper-stage spacecraft known as Ship.
While Super Heavy has been successfully caught on three test flights using the tower's chopstick arms, catching Ship has proven more challenging due to its higher altitude and speed upon return. SpaceX managed to catch Ship during Flight 13, which splashed down safely in the Indian Ocean on July 24, 2026. Musk expressed optimism about the upcoming tower-catch attempt, stating that it would be a significant historical milestone for human consciousness reaching the stars.
However, the success of this endeavor depends on obtaining regulatory approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which has not yet been secured.
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