On Oct. 20, 2026, Elon Musk said SpaceX planned to attempt a double catch on Starship Flight 15: return the Super Heavy booster and the Ship upper stage to Starbase, Texas, for catches by the launch tower’s arms. The Ship had never been caught by the tower, making its recovery the new part of the plan.
What the double catch would involve
SpaceX’s plan calls for both stages to return to Starbase, where the tower’s mechanical arms, often nicknamed “chopsticks,” would catch them. Musk described Flight 15 as expected the following month, putting November 2026 in view as the reported target month.
Super Heavy has a catch record; the Ship does not
As of Musk’s Oct. 20 announcement, SpaceX had caught Super Heavy on three earlier flights: Flights 5, 7 and 8. The Ship upper stage had not been caught by the tower.
| Stage | Earlier tower catches as of Oct. 20, 2026 | Flight 15 objective |
| Super Heavy booster | Three: Flights 5, 7 and 8 | Attempt another tower catch as part of the two-stage recovery |
| Ship upper stage | None | Attempt a first tower catch |
The previous flight, Starship Flight 14, reached orbit and deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites on Sept. 28 before the Ship splashed down at sea. NeoTeo covered that mission in its report on Starship Flight 14. Recovering both stages on Flight 15 would be a separate milestone from reusing either vehicle on a later flight.
The FAA’s environmental review and launch license are separate steps
On Aug. 31, the Federal Aviation Administration published a final environmental assessment and decision record concerning Starship reentry contingency operations and an additional trajectory to Boca Chica. The record described proposed license modifications. Environmental review and a mission-specific operational launch license are separate steps in the FAA process.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said the company expected the Flight 15 license to cover a return to the launch site and tower catches for both stages.
