"The Super Heavy booster completed a successful ascent, hover, and soft splashdown in the Gulf of America, while the upper stage executed an orbit burn, deployed Starlink simulators, and returned with a controlled reentry over the Indian Ocean. This mission officially closed the chapter on the second-generation Starship and first-generation Super Heavy booster, and it set the stage for a redesigned vehicle built for orbital payload missions, propellant transfer, and beyond."
"After Flight 11's success, Musk confirmed that SpaceX will attempt to catch the Starship Upper Stage with its launch tower arms, fondly dubbed by the spaceflight community as "chopsticks," in the coming months. Musk's announcement came as a response to an X user who asked when the tower could start catching the Starship Upper Stage. In his reply, Musk simply wrote "Springtime.""
SpaceX aims to catch the Starship upper stage with the launch tower as early as spring 2026 to enable maximum reusability. Flight 11 launched from Starbase, Texas, and achieved every major mission objective. The Super Heavy booster completed ascent, hover, and soft splashdown in the Gulf of America, while the upper stage executed an orbit burn, deployed Starlink simulators, and returned with a controlled reentry over the Indian Ocean. Flight 11 closes the second-generation Starship and first-generation Super Heavy booster chapter and paves the way for a redesigned vehicle for orbital payloads, propellant transfer, and beyond. Starship V3 may be capable of reaching Mars if development progresses successfully. Launch tower "chopsticks" catching of the upper stage is central to achieving a high launch cadence comparable to conventional aircraft.
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