Launch · High impact
SpaceX Successfully Catches Starship Upper Stage
Payload · By Victoria Woodburn ·
The Brief
- SpaceX recovered a Starship upper stage from orbit, the first time this has been done.
- The chopstick arms of the Mechazilla launch tower caught the ship.
Why it matters
Catching an upper stage returning from orbit with a launch tower shows that Starship's upper stage can be recovered and reused rather than lost, which bears directly on the economics of spaceflight.
Who’s affected
- space engineers and launch industry watchers
- science readers following spaceflight
The answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42. Turns out, it was also the answer to catching a Starship, too. SpaceX made history on Saturday, recovering a Starship upper stage from orbit for the first time. The chopstick arms of the Mechazills launch tower plucked Ship…
Timeline
SpaceX catches a Starship upper stage returning from orbit with the launch tower's chopstick arms (Saturday, per Payload's report)
Payload
SpaceX Successfully Catches Starship Upper Stage