SpaceX Starship Makes Historic First Catch After 22-Hour Orbital Flight
SpaceX has successfully caught a Starship upper stage with the giant mechanical arms of its launch tower for the first time in history, completing a more than 22-hour orbital mission on Flight 15.
The Starship completed 14 orbits around Earth and deployed 26 Starlink satellites before returning to Starbase in Texas. During the final descent, the spacecraft reignited its engines, flipped upright and was guided between the tower’s mechanical “chopstick” arms, which successfully captured the vehicle.
The Super Heavy booster, however, failed to complete its planned return. Its engines shut down earlier than expected during the recovery attempt, forcing the guidance system to divert the booster toward the Gulf of Mexico, where it was destroyed after splashdown.
Despite the booster recovery failure, the successful orbital return and tower catch mark a major step toward SpaceX’s goal of developing a fully reusable launch system.