---
title: "SpaceX Tests Giant “Chopsticks” For Catching Starship as It Lands"
description: "SpaceX has tested out its massive \"chopstick\" tower, a structure designed to guide its Starship and Super Heavy booster during launches and landings."
date: "2022-01-10"
modified: "2022-01-10"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-tests-chopsticks-starship-tower"
categories:
  - "Space"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "Starship"
tags:
  - "elon musk"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "Starship"
  - "super heavy"
  - "the digest"
---

# SpaceX Tests Giant “Chopsticks” For Catching Starship as It Lands

![SpaceX has tested out its massive "chopstick" tower, a structure designed to guide its Starship and Super Heavy booster during launches and landings.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/spacex-tests-chopsticks-starship-tower.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Elon Musk via Twitter\</em\>*

## Flexing Chopsticks

SpaceX has tested out its massive ["chopsticks" tower](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-flexes-giant-starship-catching-chopsticks-for-the-first-time>), a gigantic structure designed to guide the space company's Starship and Super Heavy booster during launches — and [catch them upon their return](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-catch-starship-booster-launch-tower>) to the surface.

The structure has to be tall enough to accommodate the spacecraft [stacked on top](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-starship-super-heavy>) of its equally colossal booster, which amounts to over 400 feet of stainless steel, dozens of rocket engines, and hexagonal heat shields.

Late Sunday evening, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk [shared a drone video on Twitter](<https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1480326831031173124>) showing the entire looming structure, in the otherwise flat expanse of South Texas, during a test run. A massive steel bar appeared to simulate the weight between the two chopsticks, according to [*Teslarati*'s breakdown of the action](<https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-launch-tower-arms-starship-lift-simulation/>).

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1480326831031173124

A [separate time-lapse](<https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1480331630103257091>) shared by *NASASpaceflight* reporter Michael Baylor shows the structure spring to life, with the chopsticks being lowered via what appears to be a pulley system.

The test is a gargantuan engineering feat come to life, a testament to the hard and tireless work that went into its construction and development — and perhaps a sign that Starship's [first orbital test flight](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-plans-orbital-starship-flight>) is right around the corner.

## Stacking Tower

A set of screw rods on the structure could allow SpaceX to move the Super Heavy booster further or closer, while a separate arm could allow the company to [transfer the booster](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/gorgeous-new-animation-shows-starship-going-orbital>) from its landing pad next to the tower back onto the launchpad.

Only time will tell SpaceX's next move for the colossal structure. The company could perhaps attempt to simulate the full weight of both Starship and Super Heavy combined, *Teslarati* suggests, or it could try to stack its Starship S20 and Super Heavy B4 prototypes on top of the tower's launch mount to see if everything fits together properly.

Regardless, we're in for a wild ride.

**READ MORE:**[ SpaceX simulates lifting Starship booster with launch tower ‘arms’](<https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-launch-tower-arms-starship-lift-simulation/>) \[*Teslarati*\]

**More on Starship:** *[Elon Musk Shares Video of Starship Steering Its Mighty Engines](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/musk-starship-steering-engines>)*

## 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](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)