At the X Takeover at Giga Texas on October 10, 2026, Elon Musk said SpaceX would try to catch Starship’s ship—the upper stage—with the launch tower’s arms during Flight 15. The planned recovery attempt would extend the goal beyond the Super Heavy booster. Musk’s remarks at the event describe an intention, not a completed catch.
The ship and Super Heavy are separate recovery goals
Musk also said SpaceX would try to catch Super Heavy, the booster. He said booster catches had already been demonstrated twice, and described reflying both stages as a later milestone. He did not specify a sequence for the ship and booster catch attempts.
Musk said Flight 15 involved fewer changes than usual, though some required substantial work inside a tank.
Musk’s launch estimate was four to six weeks
At the October 10 event, Musk estimated that Flight 15 was four to six weeks away and guessed it would launch a little before Thanksgiving. He said he did not know the exact launch date and was confident the flight was not two weeks away.
Musk’s account of Flight 14’s engine outage
NeoTeo previously covered Starship Flight 14’s first orbital flight. At the October 10 event, Musk said Flight 14 reached orbit despite an engine outage. He said the team considered whether the outage could affect restarting the sea-level Raptors needed for the deorbit burn; a failed restart, he said, could leave the vehicle to reenter unpredictably. The team proceeded to orbit. Musk tentatively attributed the outage to flight-computer or engine-computer software and said it appeared isolated.
