SpaceX lastly broke out of a severe Starship droop on Tuesday, acing the rocket’s tenth flight after months of failed attemps. Now, CEO Elon Musk has set his sights on the following huge problem: catching Starship’s higher stage with Mechazilla’s “chopstick” arms. In an X submit on Wednesday, August 27, Musk stated the following alternatives to try this feat would probably be flights 13 via 15, relying on how properly V3—the following iteration of Starship—performs. The Starship launched Tuesday was a V2, which is barely smaller and gives much less payload capability and thrust than the forthcoming V3. In one other X submit, Musk stated he expects V3 to be constructed, examined, and maybe flown by the top of the yr. Starship catch might be flight 13 to fifteen, relying on how properly V3 flights go — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 27, 2025 Why catch as a substitute of land? The Starship launch system consists of two foremost elements: the ‘Tremendous Heavy’ booster and an higher stage spacecraft known as Starship. Each levels are designed for speedy reuse, which means they should return to Earth in a single piece. That’s the place Mechazilla is available in.
This huge launch tower at Starbase, Texas is supplied with big chopstick-like arms designed to catch Tremendous Heavy and Starship throughout their separate descents. This strategy is healthier suited to Starship than gentle touchdown on a droneship or touchdown pad just like the Falcon 9. Starship is far bigger, so it could require extra-big touchdown legs and in depth touchdown infrastructure to do this. The chopstick catch eliminates these wants and thus reduces weight. Can SpaceX pull it off in 4 months? SpaceX already caught Tremendous Heavy on Flight 5 in October 2024, Flight 7 in January, and Flight 8 in March, however it has but to try this with Starship. After the primary profitable booster catch, Musk stated he hoped to catch Starship someday in 2025, however the first half of the yr didn’t precisely go as deliberate. A collection of explosive failures throughout the first half of the yr considerably delayed Starship’s launch schedule. If Musk is focusing on Flight 13 for a primary try of the Starship catch, which means SpaceX would want to launch Flights 11 and 12 throughout the subsequent 4 months to tug this off in 2025. It’s not an impossibility, however it’s extra probably that the primary Starship catch will happen someday in 2026.
Nonetheless, Starship’s near-flawless efficiency throughout Flight 10 suggests SpaceX’s luck could also be altering. The megarocket launched on time, adopted by a clean stage separation and booster touchdown—no catch try this time. Simply over 18 minutes into the mission, it opened its bay doorways and ejected payloads into area for the primary time. That stated, this megarocket nonetheless has a protracted method to go to get to Mars.
