SpaceX will try catching Starship and its booster for first time, Musk says

SpaceX plans to attempt to catch both Starship and its Super Heavy booster next month, aiming to recover the complete orbital launch system for the first time. If successful, the company says it would be the first full recovery of an orbital launch vehicle, a milestone that could advance its plan to reuse the system.

CEO Elon Musk said success on the next flight was more likely than not, while acknowledging it was not guaranteed. Starship is a roughly 120-metre-tall, two-stage rocket designed to return to its launch site, where mechanical arms on a tower would catch it. On the previous flight, an engine shut down early and the mission ended after about three hours and two orbits; both stages splashed down at sea and were not recovered.