Engineers dismissed Musk's rocket catch idea

Former SpaceX engineer Tom Mueller recalled that the team immediately dismissed Elon Musk's proposal to catch a returning Super Heavy booster with mechanical arms as 'crazy' and impossible.

“We all just rolled our eyes like, this is crazy. There’s just no way”

Chopsticks catch targets Super Heavy boosters

SpaceX has caught Super Heavy boosters in Mechazilla arms on October 13, 2024, January 17, 2025, and March 6, 2025, but not the Starship upper stage.

Starship upper stage catch remains unachieved

SpaceX aims to catch Starship for launch 14 on July 25, 2026, but has not yet succeeded in catching the upper stage itself.

SPCX stock price history

SpaceX (SPCX) began trading on June 12, 2026, at $160.95 and is down 4.56% since its market debut, with a market cap of $1,182,227,721,340 as of September 22, 2026.

SpaceX operates in three segments

SpaceX covers launch services including Falcon and Starship vehicles, connectivity via Starlink with 12 million subscribers, and AI through cloud compute and X social media.

Engineers' confidence in solvability

Mueller states that if it’s possible, it’s solvable, reflecting the team’s shift from dismissing the idea to achieving it through engineering.

“If it’s possible, it’s solvable, according to SpaceX”