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IrelandSpaceX catches Starship's upper stage after its return from orbit
VideoFromSpace's footage follows Ship 42 from glowing reentry plasma to the launch tower's mechanical arms at Starbase.
VideoFromSpace
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 729,086 views a day, 53 times a normal first day on this channel (13,723).
Historic Catch! SpaceX Starship Captured by Launch Tower After Reentry
Next story: Starship's climb to orbit leaves Super Heavy heading offshore
Video summary
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- 0:00An onboard camera shows Earth beneath Starship as glowing plasma passes during atmospheric reentry.
- 2:56A split screen pairs the spacecraft's view with spectators watching from the ground at Starbase.
- 9:40Starship descends through thicker clouds toward the landing facility as the crowd cheers.
- 10:25Ground cameras show the Raptor engines firing and Starship turning upright beside the tower.
- 10:35The tower's mechanical arms catch the returning spacecraft and secure it in place.
Glowing plasma streams past the onboard camera, while a split screen shows spectators waiting on the ground in Texas. The destination is the tower that Starship left the day before.
VideoFromSpace's recording of SpaceX's broadcast captures the first-ever tower catch of a Starship upper stage, completed at Starbase on November 14. After circling Earth, Ship 42 descends through clouds, fires its Raptor engines and rights itself beneath the tower's giant mechanical arms. They catch and hold the spacecraft above the ground.
The distinction matters: this is the returning spacecraft, not the Super Heavy booster that pushes it toward space. Recovering the upper stage is a step toward SpaceX's goal of reusing both parts of the launch system, rather than recovering only one.
The video drew roughly 290,000 views in six hours, already far beyond VideoFromSpace's usual full-day audience for a regular upload. Its comment section was also many times busier than a typical first day. Viewers dwell on the precision of the catch, credit the engineers and compare the sight to science fiction.
The mission was not an unbroken sequence of successful recoveries. The booster's planned tower catch was called off during launch, and VideoFromSpace's separate in-flight update explains SpaceX's clarification: the guidance system correctly detected an unsafe position and triggered the abort. The underlying positioning issue remained under investigation.
Alongside the catch recording, the channel has posted the full reentry replay and footage of Starship deploying Starlink satellites, giving viewers the mission beyond its final descent.
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What viewers say
That is surreal. It looks like something out of a SciFi movie!
@jeffbenoit8528See it on YouTubeWorld class engineers, well done.
@andywells397See it on YouTubeI don't know why I got emotional when I watched this, but I did. Absolutely historic and incredible achievement. Congratulations SpaceX. I can't wait to see where things go from here
@davet319See it on YouTube
4 more comments
Orbital or not, I'll never not be amazed by a rocket being recaptured on its platform. It's insane.
@outofthetrash5925See it on YouTubeThat's never going to get old
@Th3WileyFoxSee it on YouTubeSure feels like the days of the early space efforts, Mercury, Gemini and Apollo when the "impossibles" were achieved and overcome, right up to the lunar landing missions. What a time to be alive!!
@dwmzmmSee it on YouTubeIn 500 years humans will wonder why a crowd of people are cheering for what will be the equivalent of parking your car 🤣
@tharindumadushanka9022See it on YouTube
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- Channel
- VideoFromSpace
- Subscribers
- 2,180,000 ▲ 10,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 4,216,918
- Channel views, pace per day
- 2,295,530 (on a normal day: 392,855)
- Video published
- November 14, 2026
- Video views so far
- 289,320 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 729,086
The numbers
The catch recording and the launch video both drew unusually large audiences. The full reentry replay also ran well above the channel's usual livestream pace.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which satellite network did Starship deploy spacecraft for during this mission?
VideoFromSpace's mission coverage shows Starship deploying Starlink satellites into Earth orbit.