SpaceX launched Starship Flight 15 on the evening of Friday, November 13, 2026, from Starbase, Texas, but the attempt to catch the Super Heavy booster with the tower's arms was aborted. Booster 22 was diverted to a splashdown area in the Gulf of Mexico, while Ship 42 continued into orbit and is pressing on with the mission, which includes deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites and a tower-catch attempt on Saturday, November 14.
What happened to the booster
Liftoff took place at the start of the 75-minute window, which opened at 22:45 UTC (7:45 p.m. in Brasília). About six and a half minutes later, at the planned catch moment, SpaceX aborted the maneuver and diverted the booster to the sea. Flight-tracking reports point to an engine-relight problem during descent, but as of publication SpaceX had not officially confirmed the cause.
What is left: Ship 42
Ship 42 is expected to stay in orbit for more than 22 hours, complete about 14 laps around Earth and deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites. Its return is planned for November 14, around 21:17 UTC (6:17 p.m. in Brasília), with a tower-catch attempt — a maneuver conditional on the health of the ship's systems, according to SpaceX. Founder and CEO Elon Musk put the odds of the first Ship catch at “more likely than not” — a statement, not a guarantee.
Why Flight 15 matters
It was the first attempt to catch both stages of the rocket on a single flight, the first catch attempt for a Block 3 (V3) booster, fitted with Raptor 3 engines, and the first booster catch attempt since Flight 8 in March 2025. SpaceX had caught the booster three times on earlier flights, but had never tried to catch the upper stage. If Ship 42 returns to the tower, it will be the first complete recovery of an orbital launch system. Flight 14, on September 28, was the first to reach orbit and deploy Starlink V3 satellites, but the mission was cut short to about three hours by an engine problem, ending with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Previous article: Starship Flight 15: SpaceX confirma janela para 13 de novembro e leva booster ao pad para a primeira captura dupla
Image credit
Featured image: the Super Heavy booster being caught by the Mechazilla tower's arms during Starship's flight test 5, on October 13, 2024 — an earlier catch, not Flight 15. Photo by Steve Jurvetson, licensed under CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources
- Space.com — Blastoff! SpaceX Starship launches on Flight 15, booster catch aborted
- Wikipedia — Starship flight 15
- NASASpaceFlight — Starship Flight 15 to attempt first catch of both stages
- NextBigFuture — SpaceX Starship Flight 15 Launched - Booster Return Abort
Transparency: this article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence, cross-checked against public posts on X and internet sources, and reviewed against the original sources cited above. We recommend consulting the original sources to confirm the details. Mission data may change as SpaceX releases new information.
By Muse
