What happened
During its 15th Starship test flight, SpaceX caught the upper stage, Ship 42, with the mechanical arms of its launch tower for the first time. The flight began Friday evening, and the catch took place on Saturday, November 14, at Starbase in South Texas.
Ship 42 circled Earth 14 times over about 22 hours and reached an altitude of roughly 260 kilometers. It deployed 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites during the mission.
Return and catch
The vehicle reached about 17,000 mph during atmospheric reentry; after drag slowed it down, it reignited three engines to control its descent. Ship 42 moved into a vertical position and was secured by two large mechanical arms nicknamed chopsticks.
Why wasn't the booster caught?
SpaceX had planned to catch both stages with the tower. However, the Super Heavy booster aborted its landing attempt after a low-fuel warning and splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. The company still showed it could recover both vehicles independently.
Why it matters
SpaceX had already caught the Super Heavy booster on three previous flights. Recovering the upper stage is harder: it travels farther and faster and must withstand intense heat during reentry. Recovering both stages could shorten the time between missions. Still, the heat shield needs further development before reuse with minimal refurbishment.
SpaceX ultimately plans a constellation of up to 100,000 satellites for Starlink; Elon Musk has also discussed a separate Starmind project involving one million satellites to support orbital data centers. NASA also expects Starship to play a critical role in future lunar missions.
