SpaceX to Attempt Full Starship Recovery and Reuse 2026

SpaceX is preparing to attempt something no space company has ever achieved: recovering and reusing both stages of its Starship rocket. The bold plan, announced by Elon Musk, aims to slash launch costs further and maintain the company's lead in the reusable rocket race.

The move comes as Chinese startup Deep Blue Aerospace accelerates its own efforts to recover rockets using a tower-with-chopsticks system similar to SpaceX's Mechazilla. SpaceX's response: go beyond first-stage recovery and bring the upper stage back too.

Why Full Reusability Matters

Until now, orbital-class rockets have typically discarded their second stage after each launch. SpaceX's Falcon 9 recovers and reuses its first stage, but the second stage burns up in the atmosphere. Recovering both stages would dramatically reduce the cost per kilogram to orbit.

Musk has long championed full reusability as the key to making humanity a multi-planetary species. With Starship, SpaceX aims to build a rocket that can fly multiple times with minimal refurbishment, much like a commercial airliner.

Starship: The Biggest and Most Powerful Rocket

Standing 122 meters tall when fully stacked, Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. Its first stage, called Super Heavy, is designed to return to the launch site and be caught by the launch tower's chopstick arms.

The second stage, the Starship spacecraft itself, is currently expendable. SpaceX now plans to change that by attempting to recover it as well, likely using a similar tower-catch method or a precision landing.

The Plan: Flight 15 and Beyond

According to Musk, the first attempt to recover the second stage will occur during Starship's Flight 15, scheduled for November. If the attempt fails, SpaceX will try again on subsequent flights, following its iterative development approach.

This strategy of rapid testing and improvement has been central to SpaceX's success with Falcon 9, and the company intends to apply it to Starship's full reusability.

Competition from China

Deep Blue Aerospace's recent announcement that its rocket parts are rolling off the assembly line signals China's growing ambition in reusable space technology. The company's tower-catch concept mirrors SpaceX's Mechazilla, highlighting how quickly the competition is advancing.

SpaceX's push for full reusability is partly a response to this pressure, as the company seeks to maintain its technological edge.

Challenges Ahead

Recovering the second stage is significantly harder than recovering the first. The upper stage travels much faster and farther, requiring a robust heat shield and precise control during reentry and landing. The longer history behind the story is traced in Starship's Next Orbital Test Flight Set for September 22.

SpaceX will need to demonstrate that the Starship spacecraft can survive the extreme conditions of reentry and then land accurately for reuse. The background to this story is set out in SpaceX Starship Reaches Orbit for the First Time Ever. A related thread runs through SpaceX Starship Recovery Near Christmas Island Draws Global Attention. Earlier coverage in SpaceX Starship Reaches Orbit for First Time in Historic Test Flight shows how the argument developed.

What to Watch Next

All eyes will be on Flight 15 in November. A successful second-stage recovery would mark a historic milestone and bring SpaceX closer to its goal of fully reusable rockets. A closer look at the same subject appears in SpaceX Revenue Jumps 161% in Second Earnings Report. Anyone following the wider picture can start with SpaceX Revenue Beats Expectations in First Post-IPO Earnings. The same theme surfaces in Gina Rinehart Backs SpaceX Despite Share Plunge, Cites Musk, which takes a different angle.

Even if the first attempt falls short, SpaceX's track record suggests it will persist until it succeeds. The implications for the space industry—and for competitors like Deep Blue Aerospace—are profound. Context on how this played out before sits in SpaceX Louisiana Launch Site Sparks Environmental Backlash. A companion piece, SpaceX Rocket Crashes into Moon: What It Means for Space Debris, approaches the same subject from another angle.

FAQ