SpaceX Catches Starship for the First Time With Mechazilla’s Chopsticks

SpaceX has caught Starship with Mechazilla’s giant “chopsticks” for the first time, bringing the spacecraft back to its launch site after an orbital flight. The November 14 catch gives the company a major breakthrough in its push to make the entire rocket reusable, and it was quite a sight.

The upper stage returned to Starbase, Texas, following Flight 15’s launch and satellite deployment on November 13. SpaceX shared footage of the final descent and catch, showing the spacecraft arriving back at the tower rather than ending its flight in the ocean.

“Mechazilla catches Starship!” the company wrote. “Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on this incredible achievement!”

Back home after 22.5 hours

In its mission recap, SpaceX said flight controllers monitored Starship’s systems for more than 20 hours before bringing it home. A single sea-level Raptor fired for the deorbit burn, sending the ship back through the atmosphere toward Texas.

Starship then swung out over the Gulf for its final approach. Three Raptors lit for the landing flip and descent, with the tower catching the ship roughly 22.5 hours after launch. That is a long way around to get back to where you started.

A catch with much bigger implications

SpaceX has already caught Super Heavy boosters, but bringing Starship itself home is a different challenge. The upper stage travels into space, withstands the heat of atmospheric reentry and then has to make a controlled descent back to the tower. Getting all of that right on the same mission is a huge step.

The tower’s arms allow SpaceX to recover the vehicle without conventional landing legs. The longer-term goal is to inspect, prepare and launch the hardware again, cutting the amount of expensive rocket equipment that has to be built for each mission. Recovering the ship gives engineers the chance to examine flown hardware up close and learn how its systems held up.

SpaceX had laid out the ambitious catch plan ahead of Flight 15. Today’s result turns that plan into a real recovery of the upper stage, one of the biggest missing pieces in the company’s reusable-rocket programme.

One mission, two very different returns

The successful ship catch follows a different outcome for Flight 15’s Super Heavy booster. As we reported earlier, the booster did not return for a tower catch and instead diverted to a splashdown. The spacecraft’s return took place separately, after its work in orbit.

SpaceX’s recap says 32 of the booster’s planned 33 engines relit for boostback, which ended early because of low fuel mass. Its guidance system automatically diverted it offshore. After a landing burn and hover above the Gulf, the engines shut down and the flight termination system activated. SpaceX is investigating the low-fuel cause.

That work included deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites. The flight therefore combined a useful satellite delivery with a major recovery test, demonstrating why SpaceX has so much riding on Starship as both a launch vehicle and a reusable spacecraft.

SpaceX documented the return with updates on its deorbit burn, reentry and final approach before sharing the catch footage. You can watch the moment below.

For anyone who remembers when catching a rocket with a tower sounded far-fetched, this is another pretty remarkable moment. Starship has now made it back into Mechazilla’s arms.

Update: Elon Musk also shared a video of Ship 42 after its return, writing, “Ship 42 looks great!” Take a look below.