Musk fumbles the timetable for first Starship catch

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has cast doubt on the plan to retrieve a returning Starship within the next few months, contradicting his earlier optimistic remarks. During a post on his social media platform X, Musk stated: "We will probably catch the ship with the tower in a few months." He also noted that if a tower had been waiting at the location where Starship had previously landed in the ocean, it would have been retrieved.

Musk's earlier enthusiasm for retrieving the Starship was evident during SpaceX's initial public earnings call, when he suggested that it might be possible to catch the ship during the next flight. However, it seems that this plan has now fallen through. Musk further indicated that the first reflight of Starship is anticipated to occur at the end of the current year or early next, a timeline that, considering his track record with Starship targets, may need to be revised.

This news came after a static-fire test of a single Raptor engine on Starship, which simulated the deorbit burn for upcoming orbital missions. The Super Heavy booster successfully completed a hard splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, while the upper stage landed in the Indian Ocean and was recovered intact, despite being designed for a different purpose.

The previous Starship test flight went smoothly, with Musk expressing confidence during an earnings call about the ship reaching operational orbit on its subsequent test flight and deploying a group of Starlink V3 satellites, assuming everything proceeds as planned. Consistent orbital performance is crucial for SpaceX's work with NASA, as the company prepares for Artemis III, slated for 2027.

This mission aims to test rendezvous and docking between Orion and one or more commercial lunar lander prototypes in low Earth orbit, providing valuable data for NASA to prepare for the crewed lunar landing of Artemis IV in 2028. While catching Starship is not mandatory for Artemis III, a quicker launch schedule will become increasingly significant as SpaceX gears up for subsequent missions, including the numerous launches required to refuel a lunar lander in orbit.