Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!
Elon Musk posted as SpaceX prepares for its most complex orbital test yet.
SpaceX is targeting Friday, November 13, for the 15th test flight of its Starship megarocket, scheduling a 75-minute launch window that opens at 5:45 p.m. The company aims to achieve the first full recovery of an orbital launch system by attempting to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the Ship upper stage using the launch tower’s mechanical “chopstick” arms.
Super Heavy moved to the launch pad at Starbase. Booster 22 is the first Super Heavy V3 booster planned to return to the launch site for catch and was used for final catch testing upon arrival, including a suspended squeeze test at catch height pic.twitter.com/iYTX1e6DEH
SpaceX Conducts Final Testing for Super Heavy Booster 22
Ahead of the launch attempt, SpaceX moved the first stage, Super Heavy Booster 22, to the launch mount at Pad 2 in South Texas. Upon arrival, the booster underwent final catch testing, including a suspended squeeze test at catch height, as reported by Space.
Flight 15 follows the milestone success of Flight 14 on September 28, when Starship reached orbit for the first time. While SpaceX has successfully caught the Super Heavy booster on three previous occasions, the company has never attempted to catch the upper-stage Ship, which flies a more challenging trajectory, as noted by Space.
Starship Update with Max Evans (@_MaxQ_) ➡️https://t.co/rs7qGbqpOX pic.twitter.com/YRQZdMr1AC
During a prior test flight, the Super Heavy booster returned to make a water landing about seven minutes after launch in the Gulf of Mexico. For the upcoming test, SpaceX VP of Launch Kiko Dontchev confirmed the November 13 target during the UP.Summit, following pre-launch static fire tests and simulations at Starbase.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated during the Q3 2026 live earnings video call that a successful catch of the upper stage on Flight 15 carried a 50 to 60 percent chance before confirming the simultaneous Super Heavy catch attempt.
Starship Flight 15: Booster 22 being lifted for installation on Pad 2.https://t.co/HSumkyMfYU pic.twitter.com/wCi44yrWn7
Super Heavy Returns to Tower While Ship Deploys Starlink Satellites
During the mission, Super Heavy will return to Starbase for its tower catch approximately six and a half minutes after liftoff, powered by its Raptor engines. Meanwhile, the Ship upper stage will deploy 26 Starlink V3 spacecraft into low-Earth orbit after completing 14 circuits of the planet over a roughly 22-hour flight, according to Space.
If flight controllers determine conditions are unsafe, or if tower systems experience issues after reentry, the vehicle features a late-reentry option to direct Starship into the Gulf of America or direct hardware to designated Pacific Ocean splashdown areas off Hawaii or Chile.
Rapid Reusability Aims to Lower Costs and Support Starlink V3
The full recovery architecture is central to SpaceX’s strategy to lower launch costs through rapid reusability. Elon Musk has outlined plans to scale toward 10,000 Starship flights per year by 2030 to support the Starlink V3 broadband constellation and the Starmind AI data-center network, as reported by Space.
As Inna Galinger noted in The Space Review regarding Starship’s real test beginning after launch, the vehicle’s ultimate impact will depend heavily on the economic activity enabled by its payload capacity rather than solely on advertised launch prices.
Starship is preparing for catch Flight 15 is targeting to launch as early as Friday, November 13, pending regulatory approval → https://t.co/K5XRci6bnw pic.twitter.com/WS2xGLjVsx
With competing heavy-lift vehicles such as United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan, Blue Origin’s New Glenn, and Arianespace’s Ariane 6 facing technical hurdles, satellite operators and government agencies face a tightening launch crunch, making rapid reusability critical for maintaining orbital access and fulfilling high-frequency deployment schedules.
Earlier coverage: SpaceX Launches Classified USSF-432 Mission From California
Another sign Flight 15 preparations are moving forward. This NOTAM graphic lists re-entry and splashdown windows beginning November 13—supporting the pending launch window, not announcing an official liftoff time. #Starship #RocketRanch pic.twitter.com/9hJnGf5rDi
More on SpaceX
Starship flight maneuvers pic.twitter.com/QVEpWqfm5X
More than a dozen flight tests and years of development, with countless hours worked by SpaceX engineers and technicians, all come down to this: the first orbital Starship launch carrying advanced Starlink satellites bound for space. Watch “Go For Orbit” and experience the… pic.twitter.com/J2bA23f6a1
