normaleagle05 said:

---

I'd have to go hunt down references but my understanding is that both booster (Gulf) and ship (Indian Ocean) are headed for water landings.

---

Yeah that would make way more sense.

I don't know that I've seen anything approaching official on when the next booster catch might be attempted. I'd assume after at least one well executed water landing simulating a tower catch. If they want to catch a V3 booster before they try to catch both they may have to do it on flight 13.

Re: ship catch at the tower

Should note that SpaceX will only try to catch the ship with the tower after two perfect soft landings in the ocean.

The risk of the ship breaking up over land needs to be very low.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 27, 2026

I've read they won't even attempt a booster catch on 13 either, and then possibly (optimistic scenario) booster on 14, then both on 15 if everything goes well.

For the upper stage, the issue is also the populated areas of Mexico it flies over. The airspace closures themselves are a pretty big deal.

They aren't putting anywhere near the 'test tiles' or empty spots on the upper stage this time.