SpaceX's launch tower, nicknamed Mechazilla, has caught a Super Heavy booster 3 times in 4 attempts: first on Flight 5 (Oct 13, 2024) and last on Flight 8 (Mar 6, 2025). On Flight 6 the catch was called off in flight and the booster splashed down in the Gulf. None of the 6 flights since has tried a catch, and no Starship upper stage has ever been caught. As of Sep 28, 2026.
Newest first. Dates are launch dates in UTC. “Tower catch” means a catch was planned for that flight.
| Flight | Date | Booster | Tower catch | Outcome | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Sep 28, 2026 | B21 | No | Gulf splashdown (landing burn not stated) | No tower catch was planned; the plan was a landing burn at an offshore point in the Gulf. SpaceX reported that the booster "boosted back towards its splashdown site" and "has splashed down in the Gulf of America"; it did not say whether the landing burn was completed. Starship's first orbital flight. Source: SpaceX on X, Sep 28, 2026 (opens in a new tab) |
| 13 | Jul 24, 2026 | B20 | No | Hard Gulf splashdown | Only some of its landing-burn engines relit, then a hard splashdown in the Gulf (SpaceX). Source: SpaceX, Flight 13 mission page (opens in a new tab) |
| 12 | May 22, 2026 | B19 | No | Hard Gulf splashdown | First V3 booster and first launch from Pad 2; a partial boostback burn that ended early, then a hard splashdown in the Gulf (SpaceX). Source: SpaceX, Flight 12 mission page (opens in a new tab) |
| 11 | Oct 13, 2025 | B15-2 | No | Planned Gulf splashdown | A reflown booster; it hovered above the water in a pre-planned splashdown zone off Texas (SpaceX). Source: SpaceX, Flight 11 mission page (opens in a new tab) |
| 10 | Aug 26, 2025 | B16 | No | Planned Gulf splashdown | A final hover above the water, then a splashdown in the Gulf (SpaceX). Source: SpaceX, Flight 10 mission page (opens in a new tab) |
| 9 | May 27, 2025 | B14-2 | No | Lost | The first reflown booster (from Flight 7) flew a planned Gulf test and was lost shortly after the start of its landing burn (SpaceX). Source: SpaceX, Flight 9 mission page (opens in a new tab) |
| 8 | Mar 6, 2025 | B15 | Yes | Caught by the tower | The third successful catch of a Super Heavy booster (SpaceX). Source: SpaceX, Flight 8 mission page (opens in a new tab) |
| 7 | Jan 16, 2025 | B14 | Yes | Caught by the tower | The second successful catch of a Super Heavy booster (SpaceX). Source: SpaceX, Flight 7 mission page (opens in a new tab) |
| 6 | Nov 19, 2024 | B13 | Yes | Catch aborted, Gulf splashdown | Automated health checks of critical tower hardware aborted the catch; the booster diverted to a soft splashdown in the Gulf (SpaceX). Source: SpaceX, Flight 6 mission page (opens in a new tab) |
| 5 | Oct 13, 2024 | B12 | Yes | Caught by the tower | The first catch: "on our first try, Mechazilla caught the booster" (SpaceX). Source: SpaceX, Flight 5 mission page (opens in a new tab) |
| 4 | Jun 6, 2024 | B11 | No | Planned Gulf splashdown | First controlled splashdown of a Super Heavy in the Gulf. Source: Wikipedia, SpaceX Starship flight tests (opens in a new tab) |
| 3 | Mar 14, 2024 | B10 | No | Lost | The booster was lost over the Gulf during its return. Source: Wikipedia, SpaceX Starship flight tests (opens in a new tab) |
| 2 | Nov 18, 2023 | B9 | No | Lost | The booster was lost over the Gulf after stage separation. Source: Wikipedia, SpaceX Starship flight tests (opens in a new tab) |
| 1 | Apr 20, 2023 | B7 | No | Lost | The stages never separated; the vehicle was destroyed over the Gulf. Source: Wikipedia, SpaceX Starship flight tests (opens in a new tab) |
From Flight 9 on, SpaceX has flown its boosters to planned landings at sea instead of the tower: Flight 9 flew the first reflown booster on a Gulf test, Flights 10 and 11 ended in controlled splashdowns, and the first two flights of the larger V3 booster (Flights 12 and 13; Flight 12 was the first launch from Starbase's second pad) ended in hard splashdowns after landing burns that did not go as planned. SpacePolicyOnline's Flight 14 preview (September 2026) put it plainly: SpaceX caught boosters on Flights 5, 7 and 8 “but hasn't attempted it since,” and it did not on Flight 14 either: that booster splashed down in the Gulf of America, SpaceX reported.
The ship: no Starship upper stage has been caught or has attempted a catch. Starship reached orbit for the first time on Flight 14 (September 28, 2026) and splashed down in the Pacific after a deorbit burn, SpaceX reported. SpaceX had said that “by going to orbit, the next phase of developing Starship to be fully and rapidly reusable can begin.”
Sources: SpaceX's mission page for each flight states the booster outcome in words. Booster serial numbers are not on SpaceX's pages; they are from the Wikipedia compilation of Starship flight tests, and B21 from Spaceflight Now. Flights 1 to 4 had no catch attempt and are from the same compilation. Last checked Sep 28, 2026; this table is updated after each flight.
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