SpaceX will try catching Starship and its booster for first time, Musk says

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced plans to attempt a historic first in the coming month by successfully recovering an orbital launch vehicle. The company aims to catch both Starship, the spacecraft, and its Super Heavy booster upon landing, marking the first time in history an entire orbital launch system has been fully recovered. Musk emphasized the profound significance of this technological milestone during the company's third quarter earnings report.

He acknowledged the possibility of failure but expressed confidence in the endeavor, stating that the attempt is more likely than not to succeed on the next flight. Starship, a two-stage vehicle comprising the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft, stands around 120 to 124 meters tall with a 9-meter diameter. Powered by Raptor engines burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen, Starship was designed to return to the launch site using mechanical "chopstick" arms to catch the vehicle mid-air.

Last month's successful launch of Starship achieved two firsts: sending the spacecraft into Earth orbit and deploying multiple V3 satellites into the Starlink constellation. However, the launch encountered issues, with one Raptor engine shutting down prematurely, causing mission control to adapt and continue the climb, ultimately cutting the planned 10-hour, 6-orbit mission short after about 3 hours and 2 Earth orbits. As a result, neither the Starship nor the Super Heavy booster were recovered.