SpaceX Catches Starship Upper Stage After 22.5 Hours, Completing First Orbital Ship Recovery
Updated
Updated · Space.com · Nov 14
SpaceX Catches Starship Upper Stage After 22.5 Hours, Completing First Orbital Ship Recovery
3 articles · Updated · Space.com · Nov 14
Summary
At about 4:20 p.m. EST, SpaceX snagged Starship’s Ship upper stage in the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms at Starbase, marking the first recovery of an orbital Starship upper stage.
The catch capped Flight 15 roughly 22.5 hours after liftoff from South Texas, following a planned deorbit burn, atmospheric reentry and descent from 14 Earth orbits.
Flight 15 also deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, while the Super Heavy booster failed its own tower-catch attempt and diverted to a water landing in the Gulf of Mexico.
SpaceX said an early low-fuel mass alarm ended the booster’s boostback burn early, leaving it out of position for capture and triggering an automated abort.
The Ship catch closes a key gap in SpaceX’s full-reusability plan, which underpins faster reflights and future Starlink, lunar and Mars missions.
With the upper stage caught but the booster destroyed, how close is SpaceX to achieving truly rapid and reusable spaceflight?
How will the deployment of massive new Starlink V3 satellites aboard Starship reshape the future of global broadband internet?
Why did a single rocket test trigger an FAA ground stop, and will future launches continue to disrupt commercial air travel?
Starship Flight 15: First Orbital Upper-Stage Catch, Booster Abort, and the Dawn of Fully Reusable Super-Heavy Launch
Overview
On November 13, 2026, SpaceX launched Starship Flight 15 from Starbase, Texas, deploying 26 advanced Starlink satellites into orbit. During the mission, Super Heavy Booster 22 suffered a fuel anomaly, prompting its guidance system to steer it safely offshore, where it was destroyed after splashdown. Meanwhile, Ship 42 underwent a thorough heat shield inspection using onboard and ground cameras, leading controllers to approve a historic landing attempt. The next day, Ship 42 became the first orbital upper stage ever caught mid-air by Mechazilla’s chopstick arms at the launch pad, marking a major milestone in rocket reusability and future space operations.