SpaceX Aims to Snatch Starship From the Sky: Catching Rockets With Chopsticks!
So, SpaceX finally had a win with Starship's Flight 10 after a rough patch. It seems like Elon Musk is already eyeing the next big thing: catching the Starship's upper stage using Mechazilla's "chopstick" arms. I have to say, the idea is pretty wild!
According to a post on X, Musk mentioned that Flights 13 to 15 could be when they try this out, of course, depending on how the new V3 Starship performs. The one that launched on Tuesday was a V2, a bit smaller and not as powerful as the upcoming V3. Musk anticipates V3 will be ready for testing, maybe even flying, by the end of the year. It's ambitious, but hey, it's Musk we're talking about. I think we all know how he likes to shoot for the stars, sometimes literally.
For those not super familiar, the Starship launch system has two main parts: the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft. Both are designed to be reused quickly, which means they need to land back on Earth in one piece. That's where Mechazilla comes in. It´s a huge launch tower at Starbase, Texas, sporting massive chopstick-like arms to catch both the Super Heavy and Starship as they come down. It’s a different approach than landing on a droneship or pad, like Falcon 9 does.
The logic here is that Starship is enormous, and landing it the usual way would mean extra-large landing legs and a lot of ground infrastructure. The chopstick catch gets rid of those needs, reducing weight. Think of it like catching a baseball instead of letting it hit the ground – less wear and tear, and you're ready for the next pitch sooner.
SpaceX has already caught Super Heavy a few times, but Starship is still on the to-do list. After the first successful booster catch, Musk was hoping to catch Starship sometime in 2025, but the beginning of the year didn't go as planned. Those explosive failures really messed with the launch schedule.
If Musk is aiming for Flight 13, then SpaceX needs to launch Flights 11 and 12 pretty quickly to make it happen this year. It's possible, sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if the first Starship catch slips into 2026. Still, the almost perfect Flight 10 shows that SpaceX might be turning things around. It launched on time, the stages separated cleanly, and the booster landed smoothly. No catch attempt this time, though.
What´s more, it even opened its bay doors and launched payloads into space for the first time. It’s a big step, but let’s be real – this megarocket still has a long journey ahead before it reaches Mars. I think we can all agree that.
Source: Gizmodo