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'Now everything changes': SpaceX catches Starship upper stage for 1st time ever
Space • • general
Key Points:
- SpaceX successfully caught the upper stage of its Starship megarocket, known as Ship 42, for the first time on November 14, marking a major milestone toward full rocket reuse.
- The catch occurred about 22.5 hours after the 15th test flight launched from Starbase in South Texas, with Ship 42 gently secured by the launch tower's "Mechazilla" chopstick arms.
- Although the Super Heavy booster was not caught and instead splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico due to a low-fuel alarm, the upper stage catch was hailed as a historic engineering feat by SpaceX personnel.
- Ship 42 reached orbit and deployed 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites, contributing to SpaceX's broader plan to build a massive satellite constellation, including the future Starmind AI data-center network.
- The successful upper stage catch is critical for enabling faster turnaround and reuse of Starship vehicles, supporting SpaceX’s goal of a high launch cadence for deploying large satellite constellations, with plans to attempt the double catch again soon.
