Plate Nº 53 · recorded November 13, 2026
Space & AstronomyReported finding
SpaceX Writes 'Don't Panic' on Starship Before Double-Catch Test
SpaceX's 15th Starship test flight will attempt the first-ever catch of both rocket stages, with 'Don't panic' inked on Ship 42's hull.
By Priya Raman3 min read553 words
In brief
- Starship Flight 15 launches Nov. 13, 2025, in a window opening at 5:45 p.m. EST.
- It is the first attempt to catch both stages with the launch tower's chopstick arms.
- Ship 42 will deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites, its second orbital batch.
- SpaceX has caught Super Heavy three times but never the upper stage.
- Musk targets 10,000 Starship missions per year by 2030.
On November 13, SpaceX will attempt something no one has done before: catching both stages of its Starship megarocket with the "chopstick" arms of its launch tower. The message inked on the side of the upper stage reads "Don't panic."
The words appeared on Thursday, November 12, when SpaceX rolled the Flight 15 upper stage — a vehicle the company calls Ship 42 — out to the launch pad at its Starbase site in South Texas. Photographs of the move, shared on X, show the phrase lettered on the spacecraft's hull.
Why the words are familiar
The phrase comes from Douglas Adams' science-fiction classic "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." In the novel, the electronic guidebook that helps travelers cross the cosmos carries "Don't panic!" on its cover. The serial number of the vehicle itself carries a second tribute: in the book, a supercomputer asked for "the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything" thinks for 7.5 million years and returns the number 42.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has voiced his affection for the novel before. In February 2018, the debut launch of the company's Falcon Heavy rocket sent his red Tesla Roadster into orbit around the sun, with a spacesuit-clad mannequin named Starman at the wheel and the car's entertainment display programmed to read "Don't panic!"
What does the flight plan involve?
Starship's 15th test flight is scheduled to launch during a 75-minute window that opens at 5:45 p.m. EST (2245 GMT; 4:45 p.m. local Texas time). If all goes to plan:
- The Super Heavy first stage (the rocket's bottom half, which provides initial thrust) will return to Starbase for a chopsticks catch about 6.5 minutes after liftoff.
- Ship 42 will head to orbit — a destination Starship reached for the first time on Flight 14, on September 28 — and deploy 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites, the second such batch to reach orbit.
- After circling Earth 14 times, Ship 42 will come back for its own chopsticks catch on Saturday afternoon, November 14, 22.5 hours after launch.
That is the plan. SpaceX will attempt the Ship catch only if all systems on the vehicle look good; if problems appear, the company will divert to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, near either Hawaii or Chile.
Why catch rockets at all?
Both of Starship's stages are designed to be rapidly reusable, and the chopsticks-catch strategy (using the launch tower's mechanical arms to grab a returning booster mid-air) is central to that vision. Returning stages directly to the launch mount, SpaceX says, will greatly reduce the time needed for inspection, refurbishment and reflight. The stakes are large: Musk has said the company wants to launch 10,000 Starship missions per year by 2030.
SpaceX has caught Super Heavy on three previous test flights. It has never attempted the maneuver with Ship, which until now has targeted ocean splashdowns.
The double catch attempt may be unprecedented, but the company projects calm. "I'd say it's more likely than not that this succeeds next flight," Musk said last month, during SpaceX's third-quarter earnings call.
The ship carries its own instructions, and they are two words long.
via space.com (Source)
More from Priya Raman
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Senior reporter covering people, launches and day-to-day practice in general science news at SciBeat.
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