HEAVY LIFT

Both stages now get caught, refurbished and reflown.

Across 20-plus integrated flights, SpaceX's Starship has moved from test to operations. Both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage have now been caught by the launch tower, refurbished and reflown — the full reuse loop the vehicle was built around. Flight 13, the second flight of the upgraded Starship V3, carries 20 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites and tests laser links into the constellation.

The bigger prize is refuelling. A propellant-transfer demonstration is slated for late 2026 — moving cryogenic propellant between two ships in orbit, the capability NASA's Artemis lunar lander depends on. Without it, the Moon architecture doesn't close.