This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

SpaceX can try to catch the upper stage Starship booster with the launch tower during Flight 9 shows a fresh filing made to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). With an FAA advisory suggesting that Starship Flight 8 could take place later this month, it appears that SpaceX aims to test its catch hardware on the upcoming flight and then proceed with a catch attempt on the next mission. The firm flew catch hardware on Starship Flight 7, with statements by Elon Musk made ahead of the mission suggesting that if the ship softly splashed down in the ocean, then his firm could try to catch it with the tower on the next mission.

Today's FCC filing follows an FAA' advisory which indicates that Starship Flight 8 could fly as soon as February 26th. This leaves little time for preparations apart from shipping the first-stage booster and the upper-stage rocket to the launch pad. It suggests that SpaceX's static fire tests for both were successful and did not demonstrate any significant anomalies.

Starship Flight 7 flew a second-generation second-stage ship for the first time. This rocket came with larger tanks, newer heat shield tiles and improved avionics and other computer systems. However, its maiden flight proved to be short lived as while on its way to the Indian Ocean close to Australia, the ship disintegrated in the atmosphere over the Bahamas.

After the failure of Flight 7, SpaceX and FAA started a mishap investigation. Considering the Flight 8 air traffic notice, it appears that the investigation could wrap up soon. Without the FAA's approval, SpaceX will be unable to fly Starship due to safety hazards that can stem from an accident.

While SpaceX prepares for Flight 8, its FCC filing also reveals that Flight 9 could be the first to see the firm try to catch the upper-stage Starship with the launch tower. As is the case with the Starship Super Heavy booster, catching the ship is equally, if not more, important to Starship's rapid launch cadence. SpaceX aims to simply refurbish its upper stage ships and fly them again to launch as many missions as possible to Mars and to refuel its propellant tanker in Earth orbit, with re-usability playing a key role in reducing costs and increasing flight rate.

The FCC filing lists the booster and ship as either returning to the launch site or performing a water landing. While SpaceX has successfully caught the Super Heavy twice in three attempts, each attempt requires the firm to evaluate the rocket and the launch tower to ensure safety before attempting the catch. The ship's catch attempt will follow a similar approach, and it should also depend on SpaceX's Learnings from Flight 8.

If the firm is able to successfully catch the ship with the tower, then it should soon move towards perhaps the most important Starship test objective so far. This objective requires SpaceX to demonstrate to NASA that it can refuel a ship with another ship in space to build a propellant tanker. This tanker is indispensable for the space agency's Artemis lunar landing missions, which rely on a custom upper-stage Starship variant called the Human Landing System (HLS).