SpaceX is targeting a major milestone in its ongoing quest for fully and rapidly reusable rocketry during the upcoming Starship Flight 15 mission. Scheduled to lift off from Starbase, Texas, this evening, the mission features the company's first-ever attempt to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage out of the sky. The launch window opens at 5:45 p.m. ET and stays open for 75 minutes, with SpaceX hosting a live webcast via its website and X account beginning roughly 30 minutes prior to launch.
For more than a decade, the aerospace company has pursued the goal of building a fully reusable launch system. While SpaceX has previously managed to catch the Super Heavy booster on three separate test flights using the massive chopstick arms on its Mechazilla launch and catch tower systems, successfully securing the upper stage introduces an entirely new tier of complexity. The upper stage reenters Earth's atmosphere at a much higher speed than the booster because it descends directly from orbital altitude.
Key takeaways
- Flight 15 marks SpaceX's first attempt to catch both the Starship upper stage and Super Heavy booster.
- The launch window opens at 5:45 p.m. ET from Starbase, Texas, with a 75-minute duration.
- The upper stage will deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites and complete roughly 14 orbits over 22 hours.
- Catching the upper stage relies on precise alignment with Mechazilla's chopstick arms during a vertical tower landing.
Flight profile and orbital objectives
Following liftoff, the Super Heavy booster will propel the spacecraft before separating, executing a flip maneuver, and performing a boostback burn to return to Starbase for an attempted catch by Mechazilla. Meanwhile, the Starship upper stage will ascend to orbit and deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites. The vehicle is designed to complete about 14 orbits around the planet over a flight lasting more than 22 hours.
This extended duration follows previous milestones, including Flight 14 in September, which marked the first time Starship reached orbit. Although Flight 14 was cut short due to an engine issue after completing only six orbits instead of the planned ten, maintaining the full orbital schedule is critical for Flight 15. If the rocket fails to reenter the atmosphere at the exact designated point over Starbase, it will miss alignment with the Mechazilla catch tower.
Reentry and the holy grail of rocketry
Assuming the mission proceeds without an early deorbit, Starship will reenter the atmosphere approximately 22.5 hours after liftoff. The vehicle initially falls back toward Earth in a horizontal belly flop configuration before executing a short burn to shed speed. It then flips upright into a vertical position to descend directly between Mechazilla's chopstick arms.
Securing both components in a single flight brings SpaceX considerably closer to realizing its vision of a rapidly reusable orbital vehicle. While the company has already successfully re-flown two Super Heavy boosters, demonstrating the recovery and subsequent relaunch of a flown upper stage remains the ultimate objective. As CEO Elon Musk noted during an October earnings call, achieving a fully reusable orbital launch vehicle represents a profound milestone for sustainable space exploration.
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