Elon Musk Eyes Two Grid Fins on Future Super Heavy Boosters

A future Super Heavy booster could fly with fewer grid fins as SpaceX continues refining its Starship hardware.

Elon Musk said on September 25, 2026 that the company “might be able to reduce to 2 grid fins and use S-turns for the third axis of control.” The comment came in a reply to SpaceX commentator Tim Dodd, known as Everyday Astronaut, who has been covering changes to the V3 Super Heavy booster’s grid fin layout.

The V3 Super Heavy booster has already dropped one of its grid fins, a change Dodd examined in a recent video. Reducing the count to two would push that hardware simplification further.

Musk has repeatedly focused on removing unnecessary parts from SpaceX vehicles. He followed the grid fin comment with another post saying, “Best part is no part.”

Fewer grid fins would reduce mass and the number of components on the booster, which could help improve turnaround between flights. The fins guide the booster during atmospheric descent, making the balance between hardware reduction and control capability a key design consideration.

Every kilogram removed from the booster is mass that no longer needs to be slowed down or supported by additional structure. For a fully reusable system that SpaceX plans to fly repeatedly, those savings can add up over the vehicle’s lifetime.

With Starship Flight 14 now targeting September 28 and Super Heavy Booster 21 already at the Starbase pad, changes like this could influence future boosters. Musk has also said SpaceX should wind down Falcon once Starship is flying weekly, increasing pressure to make each part of the Starship system simpler and less expensive.

Musk did not say when a two-grid-fin booster could appear or whether the concept will reach a flight vehicle. After Starship Flight 13 achieved its major milestones in July, SpaceX continues making changes between test flights, with the grid fin count now among the latest areas being evaluated.