Musk fumbles the timetable for first Starship catch

CEO Elon Musk says SpaceX probably won't attempt to catch a returning Starship for several months, walking back his earlier suggestion that it could happen on the next test flight. In a post on his social media platform, X, Musk said: "We will probably catch the ship with the tower in a few months." He added that if a tower had been waiting at sea where Starship splashed down last month, "it would have been caught." During SpaceX's first earnings call as a public company, Musk was more bullish, saying: "We could possibly catch the ship as soon as the next flight." A few weeks later, that attempt appears to be off the table. In his post, Musk also predicted that the "first reflight of the ship will be either end of this year or early next" – a timeline that, given his record for hitting Starship targets, should perhaps be written in pencil. Musk's post coincided with a SpaceX static-fire test of a single Raptor engine on Starship. The test simulated the deorbit burn required for upcoming orbital missions. Starship's previous test flight went relatively well. The Super Heavy booster made a hard splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, while the upper stage settled into the Indian Ocean more gently and survived intact. This was not anticipated, and the vehicle ended up having to be towed into port – something Starship wasn't designed for. Starship is expected to reach operational orbit on its next test flight and deploy a batch of Starlink V3 satellites if all goes to plan, according to Musk's comments during the earnings call. Reaching orbit consistently is also critical to SpaceX's work for NASA. Artemis III, scheduled for 2027, is intended to test rendezvous and docking between Orion and one or more commercial lunar lander test articles in low Earth orbit. NASA plans to use the results to prepare for the Artemis IV crewed lunar landing in 2028. Catching Starship is not required for the Artemis III demonstration, but a faster launch cadence will become increasingly important as SpaceX prepares for later missions, including the multiple launches needed to fuel a lunar lander in orbit. As Musk's latest post demonstrates, however, Starship milestones have a habit of slipping. Full reuse is also central to the economics SpaceX has pitched to investors since its IPO. Catching the upper stage, rather than fishing it out of an ocean, is a substantial part of that promise. ®