SpaceX to attempt first Starship spacecraft recovery on land in 15th flight
The mission would be the first to recover both stages intact, a key step toward a fully reusable rocket system, SpaceX said.
- On Friday, November 13, 2026, SpaceX launched Starship Flight 15 from Starbase, Texas, attempting the first-ever dual-stage recovery of both the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage using the Mechazilla launch tower's mechanical arms.
- Following three successful Super Heavy booster catches, this mission marks the first attempt to recover the Starship upper stage, a critical test for SpaceX's goal of developing a fully reusable launch system to lower flight costs.
- The 22-hour mission includes Starship orbiting Earth 14 times while deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites. SpaceX engineers monitored vehicle health throughout to ensure safe reentry and tower catch execution.
- SpaceX VP of Launch Kiko Dontchev emphasized that recovering both stages is essential for operational reusability and validates infrastructure for the company's target of roughly 10,000 Starship launches annually by 2030.
- Starship is central to NASA's Artemis III lunar lander mission in 2027, with Artemis IV slated to return humans to the lunar surface as soon as 2028. Full reusability remains key to founder Elon Musk's goal of multiplanetary colonization.
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Malay Mail
AlKhaleej TodaySpaceX suffers setback in bid for first dual Starship recovery
WASHINGTON, Nov 14 — An unspecified problem forced Elon Musk's SpaceX yesterday to abort the recovery of the booster for the world's biggest and most powerful rocket,...
SpaceX faces Starship first as booster catch fails
Elon Musk's SpaceX has aborted the recovery of the booster for the latest flight of the world's biggest and most powerful rocket, the Starship, but insisted it could yet "catch" the spaceship, which would be a first. The 124-metre rocket roared into the sky from Starbase in southern Texas for its 15th test flight on Friday, but minutes later, the planned landmark nature of the mission went awry. After lift-off and the mid-air separation of the t…
SpaceX failed to capture the Super Heavy booster with the mechanical arms of the Mechazilla tower during Starship’s 15th test flight. After separating from the upper stage, the booster began a return to the launch pad at Starbase, but the landing and capture attempt was aborted. Instead of heading for the tower, the Super Heavy was diverted to a fixed point over the Gulf of Mexico. The Associated Press reported that the booster fell into the wat…
Deutsche Welle
One IndiaSpaceX launches Starship rocket, fails to recover booster
SpaceX had planned to catch and reuse both stages of its biggest rocket for the first time. But the booster exploded over the Gulf of Mexico, while the spacecraft continued into orbit.
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