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SpaceX has been working on catching the Starship upper stage with the launch tower's mechanical arms, called Mechazilla—an incredibly complex task. Elon Musk previously suggested this catch could happen before the year ends. The purpose is to show Starship's full reusability, including both the booster and upper stage. However, due to ongoing technical issues during test flights, that timeline has been pushed back.
On May 14 2025, shortly before Starship’s ninth test flight, Elon Musk revealed that SpaceX is aiming to catch the ship stage using the launch tower—just like it has already done with the booster. He said this might be possible by the end of the year, depending on how testing goes. This milestone is key to SpaceX’s larger goal of making Starship fully reusable for missions like satellite deployment, long-distance cargo delivery on Earth, and future Moon and Mars landings.
So far, the booster has been successfully caught three times, with the last two attempts showing consistent improvement. However, the ship stage is still facing challenges. The upgraded version, known as Block 2, has experienced repeated failures. In flight 9, Ship 35 exploded due to a leak and loss of tank pressure. Shortly after that, Ship 36 was destroyed during ground testing when a pressure unit failed. These setbacks have delayed several of the company’s 2025 plans.
In a recent talk, Elon Musk said he still hopes to recover a Starship booster before the year ends. But if that does not happen, then maybe it will be possible in the first half of next year. This means there is still a chance the tower could catch the ship this year. But looking at how things are going, it seems more likely the first attempt will happen next year.