Elon Musk reveals when SpaceX will perform first-ever Starship catch
SMRTR summary
SpaceX's massive Starship rocket just aced its tenth test flight, successfully deploying eight Starlink simulators while completing splashdowns of both the Super Heavy Booster in the Gulf and the ship itself in the Indian Ocean.
The milestone flight has Elon Musk looking ahead to an even more ambitious goal: catching the Starship vehicle itself, not just the booster.
"Starship catch is probably flight 13 to 15, depending on how well V3 flights go," Musk wrote on X, suggesting the dramatic maneuver could happen as early as 2025, though timing may push it to 2026.
Tuesday's flight used a V2 Starship, with only one more V2 rocket remaining before SpaceX transitions to the more powerful V3 model, which will fly through 2026.
To meet Musk's timeline for the first Starship catch attempt, SpaceX would need to accelerate its launch cadence considerably, having completed just three test flights this year. The eventual V4 Starship is expected to be the first to carry humans to space.
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to Teslarati.
Read the original article