Plate Nº 91 · recorded November 14, 2026
Space & AstronomyReported finding
SpaceX Will Try to Catch Both Stages of Starship for the First Time
SpaceX targets Nov. 13 for Starship Flight 15, the first attempt to catch both the Super Heavy booster and Ship with the launch tower's arms at Starbase, Texas.
By Marcus Bennett3 min read610 words
In brief
- Flight 15 launches from Starbase, Texas, in a 75-minute window opening at 5:45 p.m. EST on Friday, Nov. 13.
- It is the first attempt to catch both rocket stages — Super Heavy and Ship — with the launch tower's arms.
- Ship will release 26 Starlink V3 satellites and circle Earth about 14 times at roughly 171 miles up.
- The Ship catch is set for about 22.5 hours after launch, around 4:18 p.m. EST on Saturday, Nov. 14.
- Backup splashdowns are preplanned in the Pacific near Hawaii or off the coast of Chile.
On Friday, Nov. 13, SpaceX will attempt something no one has done: recovering an orbital rocket in full. Flight 15 of Starship will try to catch both stages — the Super Heavy booster and the upper stage, which SpaceX calls "Ship" — with the mechanical arms of the launch tower at Starbase, Texas.
If the maneuver succeeds, Starship becomes the first orbital-class rocket ever recovered in its entirety. SpaceX has already caught the booster three times. The Ship catch, scheduled for the day after launch, is the genuinely new part.
When does Flight 15 lift off?
SpaceX is targeting a 75-minute launch window that opens at 5:45 p.m. EST (4:45 p.m. CST) on Friday, Nov. 13, from Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas. That timing still depends on regulatory approval. Starship launch dates slip often, so the company's Flight 15 mission page carries the latest schedule.
How can you watch it?
The live webcast begins about 30 minutes before liftoff — roughly 5:15 p.m. EST if the launch holds at the start of the window. Two streams carry it:
- The Flight 15 mission page on SpaceX's website
- SpaceX's account on X
For viewers in the region, two spots offer a physical front row:
- South Padre Island, across the bay from the launch site, where crowds typically gather
- Playa Bagdad, the public beach on the Mexican side of the border, which offers a head-on view of the launch tower
What happens during the flight?
About six and a half minutes after liftoff, Super Heavy will fly back to Starbase, where the tower's "chopstick" arms will pluck it from the air — a catch SpaceX has pulled off three times before. Ship will continue upward, reach orbit, and release 26 of SpaceX's next-generation Starlink V3 satellites.
The defining test comes the next day. Ship will circle Earth roughly 14 times at an altitude of about 171 miles (275 kilometers) before turning home. Until now, every Ship test flight has ended with a practice landing at sea: the vehicle flips upright and fires its engines to set down gently on the water. This time, Ship will run that same maneuver over Starbase and aim to settle into the tower's arms instead.
SpaceX's flight timeline places the Ship catch about 22 and a half hours after launch — around 4:18 p.m. EST on Saturday, Nov. 14, assuming an on-time liftoff.
What if the catch is not safe?
SpaceX has built backup plans into the flight. The company says Ship will head for the tower only if flight controllers confirm that every system needed for reentry, the landing burn, and the final approach is healthy. If any check fails, controllers can bring Ship down at preplanned spots in the Pacific, with go/no-go decision points set up for splashdowns near Hawaii or off the coast of Chile.
In other words, the tower catch is a goal, not a gamble. The mission carries escape hatches at every stage of descent.
Why does this attempt matter?
Full recovery of both stages is the design premise that separates Starship from every operational rocket flying today. The booster catch demonstrates that the largest stage can return; the Ship catch would extend that to the orbital stage as well. Neither result is guaranteed on a first attempt, and prior Starship test flights have shown how much can go wrong in the final seconds of descent.
But the trajectory is clear: each successful catch shortens the path to a rocket that flies, lands, and flies again.
Watch the webcast Friday evening — and keep Saturday afternoon open.
via astronomy.com (Source)
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News editor covering regulation, policy and their impact on general science news at SciBeat.
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Nearby plates
- SpaceX Aims for First-Ever Double Starship Landing on Friday
- SpaceX Aims for First-Ever Double Catch of Starship's Two Stages
- Starship Flight 15 Launches Nov. 13 — Here's How to Spot It
- SpaceX aims for first-ever catch of Starship on flight 15
- Starship Flight 15 targets Nov. 13, but dual catch needs FAA approval