Pending
Pending
Starship Flight 15 launches a little before Thanksgiving 2026
“So we don't know the exact launch date, but probably about four weeks or so. Four to six weeks is about rig…”
Elon Musk promised a tower catch of the Starship ship by the end of 2025. The deadline passed and it didn't happen.
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“Later this year, if fate smiles upon SpaceX, the ship will be caught by the tower, just like the booster”
— Elon Musk · May 14, 2025 · @elonmusk on X ↗
See his original post on XLoads Elon's actual tweet, right here.
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What actually happened
SpaceX did not catch the Starship upper stage with the tower in 2025; the first ship-catch attempt was pushed to the V3 era. Fetched Oct 4 2026: Flight 14 (Sep 28) ended in Gulf/Pacific splashdowns with no tower catch of Ship or Super Heavy. Flight 15 (NET Oct 19) lists a ship catch as a potential objective and has not flown. The 2025 deadline remains missed. Wikipedia Starship flight 14 (fetched Oct 4 2026) — splashdowns, no 2025 (or later) ship tower-catch ↗
The Progression
May 14, 2025
The promise: “Later this year, if fate smiles upon SpaceX, the ship will be caught by the tower, just like the booster” · @elonmusk on X ↗
Dec 31, 2025
Deadline passed. SpaceX did not catch the Starship upper stage with the tower in 2025; the first ship-catch attempt was pushed to the V3 era. Fetched Oct 4 2026: Flight 14 (Sep 28) ended in Gulf/Pacific splashdowns with no tower catch of Ship or Super Heavy. Flight 15 (NET Oct 19) lists a ship catch as a potential objective and has not flown. The 2025 deadline remains missed. Wikipedia Starship flight 14 (fetched Oct 4 2026) — splashdowns, no 2025 (or later) ship tower-catch ↗
Today · Oct 14, 2026
Status: Missed · 287 days past due. Never happened.
SpaceX did not catch the Starship upper stage with the tower in 2025; the first ship-catch attempt was pushed to the V3 era (Flight 13+), and Flight 12 (May 2026) made no catch attempt.
Receipts
LAST CHECKED 2026-10-04- [TWEET] @elonmusk on X
SpaceX’s record
Delivered
31
38% of resolved claims delivered.
Missed
51
Deadline passed, still no-show.
More Starship and SpaceX rocket predictions
- Starship Flight 15 datePending
- Starship orbital refueling: demo promised by end of 2026Pending
- How many Starships in 2026? Elon says ~10 morePending
- Starship ship catch by the tower: moved 2 times so farPending
- SpaceX demonstrates full Starship reusability in 2026Pending
- Starship reflight: first reused ship by Mar 31, 2027?Pending
- Starships landing on the Moon within about three years (byPending
- Starship daily flights: once a day by Aug 4, 2027?Pending
- Starship landing and reuse: promised 2023, moved 3 timesPending
- When will Starship carry humans? Elon says by end of 2027Pending
- Starship rapid reusability: full reflight by end of 2027?Pending
- Starship reaches a weekly or twice-weekly launch cadence inPending
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