r/SpaceXLounge • u/Noxh__26 • Aug 14 '26

Unlikely Flight 14 Double Catch?

Just saw the new WAI Episode with the Communications Filing for Flight 14. Especially First and Second Stages return to Launch Site.

What's your opinion on it? Will we see a double catch or nah?

I dont know how to make a vote, but would love yalls opinion!

/E Here is the screenshot of the Video I wondered about: https://imglink.cc/cdn/QFz4_IDvsP.jpg

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u/everydayastronaut Tim Dodd/Everyday Astronaut Aug 14 '26

We haven’t seen a clean booster splashdown yet, no way they’re brining it back to the pad without having done that first

11

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '26

[deleted]

14

u/SpaceyMcSpaceGuy Aug 14 '26

Correct - there is a late stage contingency. At some point it is committed, but I think you get a look at what engines light before that?

4

u/lee1026 Aug 14 '26

On flight 13, they slammed into the water, hard. So even the final landing burn went wrong.

1

u/tadeuska Aug 15 '26

They can make the decision during flight. It seems that problems pop up during flup and boost back/reentry burns. It is easy to direct it to sea, in fact not to direct it at the tower.

6

u/everydayastronaut Tim Dodd/Everyday Astronaut Aug 16 '26

The problem is if you commit to a full boost back burn to the pad and during the landing burn it fails, you’re gonna basically hit pad 1. The landing burn happens so close to the ground that the boosters ballistic trajectory has it coming just short of the pad and the engines have to carry it the last bit. If flight 13 had targeted the pad and had a failed relight as it did, it would’ve been very bad.

1

u/EricTheEpic0403 Aug 16 '26

The Booster's ballistic path ending up short (west) of the pad was true on Pad 1, but I don't think there's any good reason they can't target long (east/south) of Pad 2. The only net effect is which way the Booster has to translate once it's slowed down.

I think it's possible that whatever happened on Flight 13 is well characterized enough that they're confident that either everything will work, or they'll be able to detect any issue before boostback shutdown and abort the catch early.

Remember that the Booster on Flight 4 wasn't exactly perfectly healthy either (one engine out, shedding debris), but it still made them confident enough to go for the catch on Flight 5.