SpaceX Targets Tower Catch for Starship on Next Flight

SpaceX will likely attempt to catch its Starship spacecraft with the launch tower's mechanical arms on the next test flight. The company is encouraged by the successful end to Friday's mission, according to CEO Elon Musk.

Next flight will attempt tower catch of Starship. Elon Musk wrote on X Friday evening that unless problems are discovered after mission data review, SpaceX will attempt to catch the ship with the tower on the next flight. That would involve launching Starship on a longer-range trajectory, perhaps into low-Earth orbit, to bring the vehicle back to the launch site where the mechanical arms will attempt to capture it as it slows to a hover.

SpaceX has already caught the Super Heavy booster with the tower arms. The booster is larger and heavier than Starship but returns at a fraction of the speed.

Flight 13 demonstrated key Starship capabilities. Friday's test was the 13th launch of Starship atop its Super Heavy booster and the second flight of Starship Version 3. The 408-foot-tall rocket lifted off from Starbase, Texas, at 5:51 pm CDT.

Starship continued accelerating into space while the Super Heavy booster descended toward the Gulf. The booster fired its six engines more than five minutes before beginning a half-hour coast over the Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and South Africa.

After engine shutdown, Starship opened its payload bay door and deployed a stack of 20 Starlink satellites. These are the first of SpaceX's upgraded Starlink V3 model with significant improvements in throughput and power.

In-flight engine restart and reentry completed successfully. With satellite deployments complete, Starship performed a brief restart of one of its Raptor engines. The burn lasted approximately 14 seconds and was visible to observers in South Africa.

SpaceX hailed the demonstration as core capability for future orbital missions. Gravity then pulled Starship back to Earth for a controlled landing in the ocean.

Future steps focus on orbit and tower return. The next steps for Starship are getting to orbit and returning the ship to the launch site. Friday's picture-perfect end has positioned the program to attempt the tower catch on the upcoming flight.