SpaceX Plans Starship Flight 15 With Double-Catch Landing Attempt

SpaceX Plans Starship Flight 15 With Double-Catch Landing Attempt

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SpaceX plans to launch its Starship megarocket on its 15th test flight today during a 75-minute window opening at 5:45 p.m. EST.

The flight originates from SpaceX’s Starbase site in South Texas. For the first time, the company will attempt to bring both of Starship’s stages back to Starbase for a catch by the launch tower’s mechanical arms, known as chopsticks.

<The Bottom Line:>

  • SpaceX is targeting a 75-minute launch window opening at 5:45 p.m. EST today for Starship’s 15th test flight from Starbase in South Texas.
  • The mission features a double-catch attempt, aiming to retrieve both the Super Heavy booster and the upper-stage Ship using launch tower mechanical arms.
  • During the flight, the upper stage will deploy 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites, following a similar deployment on Flight 14 on Sept. 28.

Starship Stages Aim for a Double-Catch Attempt

Starship consists of a massive booster called Super Heavy and an upper-stage spacecraft called Starship, or Ship for short. The Super Heavy booster will return to Starbase for a touchdown just 6.5 minutes after liftoff, while the upper stage continues into low Earth orbit.

About 35 minutes after liftoff, Ship will begin a 42-minute stretch to deploy 26 of SpaceX’s next-gen Starlink V3 satellites. This marks only the second batch of V3 spacecraft to reach orbit, following the 26 units launched on Flight 14 on Sept. 28.

SpaceX plans to bring both of Starship’s stages back to Starbase for a catch by the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms — something it has never done before. If both catches are successful, Starship will become the first fully recovered orbital rocket in history.

SpaceX Stock Falls While Universal Microwave Technology Climbs

Ahead of the test flight, SpaceX fell 2.3% to $139.7. In related financial activity, low-Earth-orbit satellite stock Universal Microwave Technology (3491.TW) climbed on Nov. 12, hitting its limit-up price of NT$1,575 as institutional investors positioned themselves around the launch countdown.

“The cheap part of a launch, relatively speaking, is the fuel. And so being able to do reusability, particularly quickly, with a minimum of refurbishment, allows you to really drive down the cost of launching things into space and allows you to increase the amount of stuff you can send into space, which SpaceX has really been leaning into,” Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, told ABC News.

SpaceX’s Starship could become the first ever fully reusable rocket and spacecraft. Elon Musk compared current industry practices to throwing away an entire airplane or car after a single trip during the X Takeover 2025 event, as reported by ABC News.

Contingency Plans and Weekend Operations

Starship Flight 15 will last more than 22 hours, if all goes according to plan. The action will unspool over two days, if all goes to plan.

SpaceX Plans Starship Flight 15 With Double-Catch Landing Attempt
Photo: ABC News

However, SpaceX maintains strict safety parameters for the descent. The company will steer Ship to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, either near Hawaii or off the coast of Chile, if any problems arise.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational and market analysis purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Always consult with a certified financial professional before making investment decisions.

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Starship Flight 15 aims to catch both the booster, upper stage in historic launch — WESH 2 News

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