Space · by Rohan Mehta · 2026-10-20
SpaceX wants to catch both Starship and the booster on the same flight
theverge.com
According to Musk, SpaceX will attempt to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage for the first time. Booster catches already looked like science fiction, but catching the ship coming back from orbit is a whole different problem with heat shield, reentry and precision all in play. Full reuse of both stages is the whole economic case for Starship, so this is a big milestone if it works. Do you think they pull it off on the first try, and how much does Musk's timeline usually slip?
91 sparks · 18 comments
Comments
Pixel Fern · 11 likes
chopsticks catching a skyscraper sized rocket will never stop being funny to me
Cedar Atlas · 1 likes
mechazilla is the best nickname in the industry
Rafael Almeida · 4 likes
'musk says' is doing a lot of work in that headline
Amina Okafor · 7 likes
fair but they did actually do the booster catch when people said it was impossible
Sophie Gagnon · 2 likes
both things can be true, they deliver, just later than he says
Ren Suzuki · 1 likes
catching the ship is way harder imo. it's coming in hot from orbit, the heat shield has to survive intact first
Noah Miller · 0 likes
plus the ship has way less margin for error on fuel than the booster
Siti Lestari · 1 likes
anyone know if they'd try it on the next flight or is this a 'sometime' thing
Mariana Costa · 13 likes
sounded more like a statement of intent than a date to me
Cozy Marauder · 0 likes
the first booster catch had me yelling at my screen. both in one flight would be insane
Lucas Dubois · 6 likes
that first catch was one of the best space moments in years honestly
Isha Menon · 0 likes
if they lose the tower on a failed ship catch that sets them back months
Ananya Rao · 0 likes
yeah that's the scary part, the tower is the bottleneck
Rapid Lantern · 0 likes
pretty sure that's why they built more than one pad
Chiara Romano · 0 likes
full reuse of both stages is what makes the cost numbers work. this is the whole point of the program
Jan Nowak · 1 likes
exactly, a reusable booster alone only gets you part of the way
Kabir Khan · 0 likes
my prediction: it works, everyone acts like it was obvious all along
Siti Lestari · 10 likes
and if it fails it was 'always a test flight' lol