SpaceX to Attempt First Full Recovery of Starship in Friday Launch from Texas

SpaceX is preparing to launch Starship Flight 15 as soon as Friday from Starbase, Texas, and try to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage back at the launch tower.

If the attempt works, it would mark “the first full recovery of an orbital launch system,” SpaceX said on its Flight 15 page, and a breakthrough toward making the rocket rapidly reusable.

A 75-minute window opens at 5:45 p.m. ET, or 4:45 p.m. CT, and closes at 7 p.m. ET.

SpaceX still lists the flight as pending regulatory approval and says the schedule can change.

Elon Musk, the company’s founder, wrote on X last week that both stages will be targeted for a catch.

“SpaceX will attempt to catch both the Super Heavy booster and Starship on the upcoming flight,” Musk said. “If both are successful, it will mark the first time that all parts of an orbital rocket return to Earth intact. This is the critical breakthrough needed to make life multiplanetary.”

In remarks about the flight that Musk later reposted on X, he added, “You really want to watch this one. This one’s cool. It’s the largest flying object ever made. And then the giant thing comes back. Excitement is guaranteed.”

The Super Heavy booster, known as Booster 22, is due back about 6 minutes and 35 seconds after liftoff, when the tower’s mechanical arms would try to catch it.

SpaceX said this would be the first catch attempt for a Super Heavy V3 booster. Three earlier V1 boosters were caught, and two of those later flew again.

The upper stage, Ship 42, would stay in space much longer, reaching an orbit about 171 miles (275 kilometers) high.

SpaceX plans for it to deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites and complete about 14 orbits over more than 22 hours.

A catch of the ship would come about 22 hours and 32 minutes after liftoff, or around 4:17 p.m. ET Saturday if the rocket leaves at the opening of Friday’s window.

Flight controllers will attempt that return only if the systems needed for reentry, the landing burn and the approach to the tower are healthy, the company said.

Otherwise the ship can be steered to a safe splashdown in the ocean.

SpaceX has caught Super Heavy on three flights but has never tried to catch the ship, Space.com noted, because the upper stage flies higher, farther and faster than the booster.

SpaceNews reported that SpaceX set the Nov. 13 target for the dual-catch attempt.

SpaceX said Thursday evening that Ship 42 had been moved to the pad at Starbase ahead of launch. Super Heavy was already there.

The company has not announced a backup date if Friday slips.

How to Watch

SpaceX said a live webcast will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff, which would be 5:15 p.m. ET if the flight goes at the opening of the window.

Coverage is planned through the ship catch, with possible live views from orbit:

• Watch on SpaceX’s Flight 15 page and on X at @SpaceX.
• Independent commentary is typically streamed on NASASpaceflight’s YouTube channel. Space.com said that webcast is due to start at 11:45 a.m. ET Friday.
• Everyday Astronaut also usually carries live launch coverage.

No official launch-day video link has been posted yet, and the times can move, so check those pages Friday before watching.

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