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'Now everything changes': SpaceX catches Starship upper stage for 1st time ever (video)

But Ship succeeded in its attempt, notching a huge milestone for SpaceX and its dream of full rocket reuse.

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 7 sources•1 min read•Updated November 14, 2026, 11:34 PM UTC
Key points
  • Starship Test Flight 15 marked the first time Elon Musk's company tried to catch both the booster and upper stage of the rocket.
  • The rocket stage was caught mid air using huge mechanical arms nicknamed “chopsticks”.
  • SpaceX has performed the historic catch using mechanical arms nicknamed "chopsticks".

The company has performed ' chopstick ' catches of its boosters before, but this is the first time the maneuver has successfully been executed on the Starship vehicle itself.

After aborting a planned catch of Starship Flight 15's booster, SpaceX successfully captured Starship with its "Mechazilla" launch and catch tower for the first time.

Additional details
  • The company's spacecraft returned to its Texas launchpad in dramatic fashion — by carefully lowering itself until two metal arms attached to the launch tower could secure it.
  • The historic first gets SpaceX closer to “rapid reusability” of rockets.
  • SpaceX plans to use Starship to build an even bigger network in LEO than the Starlink V3 system — Starmind, an AI data-center constellation that will harbor a million spacecraft, according to Elon Musk.
  • The double chopstick catch is key to that vision, SpaceX says, for it will enable quicker inspection, refurbishment and reflight of Starship.
  • Many SpaceX employees went outside to watch the vehicle, known as Ship 42, descend through the clouds toward its Starbase launch tower, which the company calls "Mechazilla." And they got quite a show: Ship 42 nestled gently into Mechazilla's waiting arms, while "Baby Come Back" played over SpaceX's landing webcast.

How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →

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Every article behind this summary — 8 articles from 7 outlets

MarketWatchNovember 14, 2026, 11:34 PM UTC → BBC ScienceNovember 14, 2026, 11:15 PM UTC → CNBCNovember 14, 2026, 11:10 PM UTC → BBC ScienceNovember 14, 2026, 10:15 PM UTC → BBC WorldNovember 14, 2026, 10:09 PM UTC → The VergeNovember 14, 2026, 9:44 PM UTC → NPR NewsNovember 14, 2026, 9:42 PM UTC → Space.comNovember 14, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC →

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