SpaceX Will Attempt Dual Catch of Super Heavy and Starship, Elon Says

Elon Musk said Friday that SpaceX will attempt to catch both the Super Heavy booster and Starship on the upcoming flight, framing a successful dual recovery as the first time every part of an orbital rocket returns to Earth intact.

“If both are successful, it will mark the first time that all parts of an orbital rocket return to Earth intact,” Musk wrote. “This is the critical breakthrough needed to make life multiplanetary.” He quoted SpaceX’s new “Go For Orbit” film on Starship Flight 14 while making the claim about the next mission.

That closes a gap left open earlier this week. SpaceX VP of launch Kiko Dontchev told UP.Summit that Flight 15 is targeted for Friday, November 13, but the on-site report did not confirm a ship catch. Prior booster catches already proved Super Heavy can return to the tower; catching the upper-stage Starship at the same time would be a new step.

Musk did not name Flight 15 in the post, give a launch day, or spell out whether both catches are tower chopsticks attempts versus a mixed profile. SpaceX has not posted a matching Flight 15 mission page that repeats the dual-catch line in company voice.

Readers should treat November 13 as the working target from Dontchev and treat Musk’s dual-catch line as the clearest primary confirmation yet that both stages are on the upcoming attempt. Whether regulators, weather, and hardware keep that date is still open.