SpaceX catches Starship after orbit, but booster recovery fails

SpaceX caught Starship’s upper stage with the launch tower’s mechanical arms at its Texas launch site on Saturday, 14 November, according to CBS News. The first recovery of a Starship from orbit followed a 22-hour test flight, but the mission’s planned return of both rocket stages failed when the Super Heavy booster diverted and exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.

• The upper stage circled Earth 14 times before returning to the tower, The Guardian reported.
• The Super Heavy booster diverted from its planned recovery and exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.
• The catch was a milestone for a vehicle intended to support NASA’s lunar plans, while the failed booster recovery left the double-catch objective unmet.

How Starship returned to the tower

CBS described the catch as the first recovery of a Starship from orbit; earlier test flights had ended with planned ocean splashdowns. As the upper stage descended, it restarted three of its six Raptor engines, flipped upright and slowed nearly to a hover before the tower arms closed around it, CBS reported. The Guardian said the spacecraft had orbited Earth 14 times during the flight.

Why the booster did not make the catch

The Guardian reported that the booster’s guidance, navigation and control system triggered a no-go, sending it away from the planned recovery before it exploded in the Gulf. SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot said the system detected that the booster was not in the right position to proceed with a catch. Elon Musk said the booster was slightly low on fuel, while CBS reported it ran out of fuel shortly before hitting the water.

SpaceX had recovered booster stages in three previous launches, CBS reported, but those recoveries did not include a Starship upper stage returning from orbit. The new catch therefore demonstrated a recovery step the earlier test flights had not achieved; the failed booster return prevented this flight from completing the planned two-stage recovery.

What the catch means for NASA’s lunar plans

NASA wants a Starship variant to carry astronauts to the lunar surface, and CBS reported that orbital propellant-transfer tests are planned for upcoming flights. The Guardian reported that NASA has contracted SpaceX and Blue Origin for a planned human return to the Moon in 2028. Those plans depend on further development: the successful upper-stage recovery does not itself demonstrate a crewed lunar mission or completion of the booster’s recovery system.

The Guardian reported that Musk has said SpaceX plans to increase Starship test flights to weekly and then twice weekly, but the report did not establish when that pace will begin. SpaceX’s next flight date was not established in these reports.