What changed
SpaceX launched Starship’s 15th test flight from Boca Chica, Texas, at 16:47 local time on 13 November 2026. The 124-metre rocket reached space and deployed 26 Starlink satellites, but an automated abort stopped the planned catch of its Super Heavy booster, which was diverted over the ocean and destroyed.
The upper stage, called the Ship, is expected to complete 14 orbits before returning at about 21:15 GMT on 14 November. SpaceX has not yet decided whether to attempt the first tower catch of the Ship using the launch tower’s mechanical arms.
Why it matters
This was meant to be Starship’s first full recovery test: catch the booster and the upper stage, then prepare both for another flight. The booster has already been caught three times on earlier tests. The Ship, however, only reached orbit for the first time in September.
That makes the aborted booster catch a setback, but not a collapse of the test. The Ship still completed its orbital mission and deployed Starlink satellites. The more revealing moment now comes later: if its condition in orbit is good enough, SpaceX may attempt the catch; if not, it can send the vehicle down into the ocean.
My read is that the launch showed progress in getting Starship through space, while also exposing how much of the system still depends on carefully managed failure. SpaceX wants both stages to be reusable because repeated flights could sharply reduce launch costs. One successful catch would not prove that business model, but it would move Starship from showing that it can fly toward showing how it might operate.
The outcome also matters to NASA, whose Artemis III mission aims to land humans on the Moon in 2028 using technology linked to Starship. A successful Ship catch would strengthen confidence in that timetable. Another abort would leave the larger ambition intact, but with more engineering work between today’s test and a lunar landing.
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