Nov. 14 (UPI) — SpaceX successfully caught its Starship spacecraft at its Texas launch tower Saturday, marking the first time the company has recovered the upper stage of a rocket after an orbital flight.
The 171-foot spacecraft returned to Starbase after spending more than 22 hours in orbit, completing 14 trips around Earth before descending into the tower’s mechanical arms.
The historic catch came during Starship’s 15th test flight, a mission intended to demonstrate the company’s ability to recover and reuse both stages of its rocket.
The mission fell short of that goal Friday when the Super Heavy booster was diverted from its planned return to the launch tower and exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.
SpaceX said the booster’s guidance, navigation and control system automatically canceled the catch after detecting a problem.
“It was doing what it was supposed to do,” SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot said. “Basically, it detected that the booster was not in the place it was supposed to be to proceed with a catch.”
Despite losing the booster, the company successfully placed Starship into orbit and deployed Starlink internet satellites during the flight.
The upper stage then remained in orbit until Saturday’s return, completing a major milestone in SpaceX’s effort to develop a fully reusable launch system.
The successful catch comes as NASA prepares for its planned 2028 return of astronauts to the lunar surface.
SpaceX holds a multibillion-dollar NASA contract to develop a modified Starship spacecraft to carry astronauts to the moon.
Musk has said the company plans to increase Starship test flights to weekly and eventually twice-weekly launches as it works toward rapid reusability.
The billionaire has also promoted Starship as the spacecraft that could eventually transport humans to Mars.
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