Elon Musk says SpaceX will try to catch Starship’s upper stage on Flight 15, which he called “hopefully four to six weeks away.” He said it by video on Saturday, October 10, at the X Takeover fan event at Giga Texas in Austin. It is a hope, not a launch date.
What a ship catch means
SpaceX has already caught the Super Heavy booster with the launch tower’s mechanical arms. It has not caught the upper stage, called the ship, and every ship so far has ended its flight in the ocean. A catch would be a step toward reusing the whole rocket. SpaceX has described full reuse as the way it aims to cut the cost of reaching orbit.
The timing
Four to six weeks from October 10 points to roughly November 7 to 21. Musk guessed the launch could come a little before Thanksgiving, which falls on November 26. That is a slip from earlier talk of a date as early as October 19, and a November 8 planning date is also not a launch commitment.
Where Flight 14 left things
Flight 14 flew on September 28 and reached orbit, releasing the first 26 Starlink V3 satellites. One of the ship’s six engines shut down early and the others made up for it. Musk blamed engine software. Neither stage was recovered on that flight.
Musk also suggested the booster and ship recovered on Flight 15 could fly again on Flight 16. Catching a vehicle and flying it again are separate milestones, so a catch would not by itself mean a reflight is close.
Our take: this is a forecast from Musk, not a date from SpaceX, and this target has already slipped. We are working from accounts of Musk’s remarks at a fan event, not an official SpaceX announcement, so treat the schedule as a hope. What is worth watching is whether SpaceX posts an official launch date and a flight plan that includes the ship catch. Related: SpaceX Launches 21 Military Data Satellites After 5-Day Delay.
