SpaceX · 11 Oct 2026
SpaceX will try to catch the Starship upper stage for the first time on Flight 15, and Elon Musk says that launch is only 4 to 6 weeks away.
Update, 14 Oct: FAA air-traffic planning slides now show Flight 15 NET 8 November (moved from 19 October). That is not a SpaceX T-0: Ship 42 needs more cryo testing and Booster 22 has not static-fired yet. Live date on the Starship tracker.
Speaking by video at the X Takeover event at Giga Texas, Musk guessed a launch a little before US Thanksgiving on 26 November.
Booster catches with the tower arms are already proven. Catching the ship as well would be the first full recovery of an orbital-class rocket, Musk said, and the flight after that would aim to re-fly both stages.
He said the Flight 14 engine glitch was a flight-computer software issue that's easy to fix, and the heat shield held up well.
I think the ship catch is the bigger milestone, because the ship has to survive coming back from orbit first.
