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SpaceX launched its 15th Starship test flight from Starbase, Texas on Friday, aiming for the first dual catch of both the Super Heavy booster and the upper-stage spacecraft. The booster catch attempt was scrapped, and it was instead directed to land in the ocean. The flight also carried new Starlink v3 satellites, continuing deployment toward the company's broader satellite internet network.
SpaceX is launching its Starship Flight 15 on Friday, Nov. 13, with a 75-minute window opening at 5:45 p.m. ET. The mission will deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites and attempt to catch both the new Super Heavy V3 booster and, for the first time, the upper stage itself using the Mechazilla tower at Boca Chica, Texas.
SpaceX plans to launch Starship's Flight 15 mission on November 13, pending regulatory approval, with a 75-minute launch window opening at 5:45PM Eastern. For the first time, the company will attempt to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the Ship upper stage using its launch tower's mechanical arms, after previously catching only the booster. The mission will also attempt to keep Ship in orbit for roughly 22 hours, circling Earth about 14 times and deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites.
SpaceX's fully stacked Starship launch vehicle measures 407 feet, combining the 236.2-foot Super Heavy booster and the 170.6-foot Starship spacecraft. It is currently the tallest and most powerful rocket ever flown, generating 18.1 million pounds-force of liftoff thrust, up from the 16.7 million pounds-force recorded during its first full-stack launch in April 2023, when booster exhaust damaged the launch pad and scattered debris across 385 acres.
SpaceX executives said on an earnings call that the company plans to attempt catching both the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage at the Starbase tower during the rocket's 15th test flight, targeted for November. Elon Musk said data from Flight 14 gives SpaceX confidence to try the dual catch, while president Gwynne Shotwell said the FAA license is expected to permit return-to-launch-site landings over land, including northern Mexico.
Elon Musk announced during SpaceX's earnings call that the company plans to attempt catching both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage, known as 'Ship,' using the launch tower's mechanical arms on the vehicle's next test flight, possibly as early as next month. SpaceX shared a simulation video showing how the catch would work, marking the first attempt to recover the upper stage rather than let it splash into the ocean as in previous flights.
Elon Musk said during SpaceX's third-quarter earnings call that the company plans to try recovering both stages of its Starship system—the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft—during its next flight. The attempt would use launch-tower arms to catch the vehicle mid-air, aiming for what Musk called the first full recovery of an orbital launch system in history.
SpaceX's Starship completed its 14th test flight on Monday, achieving orbital insertion for the first time and deploying 26 of its new Starlink V3 satellites from Starbase in South Texas. The Super Heavy booster, using 33 Raptor engines, separated and splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, while the upper stage suffered an early engine shutdown before restarting a Raptor engine to reach an orbit roughly 171 miles up. SpaceX confirmed contact with all 26 deployed satellites, each weighing about 2 metric tons.
SpaceX's Starship, launched atop its Super Heavy booster, reached low-Earth orbit for the first time on its 14th flight, despite losing one of six Raptor engines mid-mission. The company shortened the planned orbital stay from about 10 hours to roughly three before Starship reentered and landed in the Pacific Ocean. During the flight, SpaceX deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites into orbit and confirmed contact with all of them, while the Super Heavy booster splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico for eventual recovery.
SpaceX plans to launch its Starship rocket from Starbase, Texas on Monday morning within a 75-minute window opening at 8:15 a.m. EDT. Flight 14 will attempt to send the vehicle's upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time, where it is meant to deploy 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites before splashing down in the Pacific near Chile after roughly 10 hours and six orbits.
SpaceX is preparing to launch its fourteenth full-scale Starship test flight on Monday, pending regulatory approval. The plan calls for Starship to orbit Earth six times over ten hours at an altitude of 171 miles before attempting a soft landing, following hardware changes to the Super Heavy booster after only 10 of 13 engines relit during the last landing attempt in July.
SpaceX plans to launch its 14th Starship test flight as early as September 22 from Texas, pending regulatory approval, marking the first attempt to send the vehicle into orbit. The mission will carry 26 large V3 Starlink satellites to a 275 km orbit, with the upper stage aiming to complete six orbits over roughly 10 hours.