--- title: "SpaceX Makes Progress on “Launch Tower” Meant to Catch Starship Booster" description: "According to the latest drone shots, SpaceX is making great progress on its orbital launch facilities at its site in Boca Chica, Texas." date: "2021-04-01" modified: "2021-04-01" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-launch-tower-catch-starship-booster" categories: - "Space" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "super heavy" - "the digest" --- # SpaceX Makes Progress on “Launch Tower” Meant to Catch Starship Booster ![According to the latest drone shots, SpaceX is making great progress on its orbital launch facilities at its site in Boca Chica, Texas.]() *\Image: SpaceX\* ## Launch Tower According to the latest drone shots, SpaceX is making solid progress on its [orbital launch facilities]() in Boca Chica, Texas. Most prominent among a number of new structures is the first of two planned "launch towers" designed to catch the space company's Super Heavy booster — a gigantic rocket stage meant to push Starship into orbit — using massive arms, as [*Teslarati* reports](). https://twitter.com/RGVaerialphotos/status/1370416005785194498 ## Catching Starships In [December tweets](), CEO Elon Musk revealed that "we’re going to try to catch the Super Heavy Booster with the launch tower arm, using the grid fins to take the load." The launch tower may have a second and just as important job as well. "Might just catch the ship with the launch tower, same as booster," Musk wrote in a [March tweet](). The massive tower could also be used to join the 165-foot spacecraft to its 230-foot rocket. With its booster, Starship will stand just shy of 400 feet tall, almost 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. To put that into perspective, NASA's enormous Saturn V rocket used to launch the Apollo missions to the Moon stood at just 363 feet. ## One Tall Rocket Joining the two won't be an easy task, and SpaceX will "need launch tower for that," as Musk revealed in [a tweet]() earlier this month, noting that "both booster and ship need to be stabilized at stage separation joint." SpaceX's launch tower seems to have appeared out of nowhere, suggesting that the space company is focusing intensely on its development. Considering Musk wants Starship to go orbital [before the end of the year](), the company has an immense amount of work before it. We're still not entirely sure how the tower will work or how SpaceX intends to use it to catch a 230-foot rocket stage — but we can't wait to find out and watch the action unfold. **READ MORE:** [SpaceX’s Starship booster-catching ‘launch tower’ begins to take shape in Texas]() \[*Teslarati*\] **More on Starship:** *[Man Finds Exploded Piece of Starship Five Miles From Launch Site]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()