SpaceX aborted its attempt to catch the Super Heavy booster of its Starship rocket on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026.[1] The booster instead splashed into the Gulf of Mexico, where it burst into flames.[2] The rocket’s upper stage, called the Ship, continued into orbit on the company’s 15th Starship test flight.[3]
SpaceX will decide whether to try catching the Ship at the Starbase launch tower at about 3:15 p.m. local time on Saturday, or 4:15 p.m. ET.[1] A successful catch would be the first time SpaceX has caught the rocket’s 171-foot upper stage.[3]
Related: Starship Flight 14 Explained: First Orbit, Starlink V3.
What happened on Flight 15
The rocket lifted off from Starbase in South Texas at 4:47 p.m. local time, or 5:47 p.m. ET.[2] Flight 15 was the first time SpaceX tried to catch both the booster and the upper stage of Starship.[2]
The tower’s mechanical arms, nicknamed “chopsticks,” were to catch the booster about six and a half minutes after liftoff.[1] SpaceX had caught the Super Heavy booster on three earlier test flights.[1] The cause of Friday’s diversion was not known that evening.[3]
“That certainly isn’t the news that we had hoped to hear for today,” Kate Tice, SpaceX’s director of quality management, said.[3] Tice said the booster’s return was in line with “rigorous safety checks.”[3]
The launch went ahead as scheduled despite a nationwide ground stop that disrupted hundreds of flights.[3] The Federal Aviation Administration issued the ground stop Friday after communication problems at multiple air traffic control centers.[2] An FAA spokesperson said the ground stop did not affect SpaceX’s launch license.[2]
The Ship’s day in orbit
The Ship deployed 26 Starlink satellites, the same number released on the previous test flight.[2] Three of the satellites carried cameras to examine the rocket’s heat shield.[3] That data helps determine whether the spacecraft is ready to return.[3]
The Ship was traveling at more than 26,000 kilometers per hour, about 16,000 mph, at an altitude of about 270 kilometers, or 168 miles.[3] It is due to complete 14 orbits and return to the launch tower about 22.5 hours after liftoff.[1]
SpaceX said before the flight that it would decide on a Ship catch only after assessing the vehicle in space.[1] If problems are detected, the stage can be brought down in the ocean at several points during the flight.[1]
Why full reuse matters
SpaceX’s goal is a fully reusable rocket that can fly repeatedly at lower cost.[1] Its Falcon 9 rockets, which reuse only the lower stage, now fly more than 100 times a year.[1]
“Full reusability has the potential to fundamentally change the economics of accessing space,” said Prof. Malcolm Macdonald, president of the Royal Aeronautical Society.[1]
SpaceX has said one Starship can carry up to 60 Starlink V3 satellites, about 20 times the capacity of earlier Falcon 9 rockets.[2] The Starlink network already has more than 11,000 active satellites in low Earth orbit.[2]
Stakes for NASA’s Moon program
NASA has contracted SpaceX to turn the Ship into a lander that will carry astronauts to the lunar surface.[1] Blue Origin, owned by Jeff Bezos, holds a second lander contract.[1] NASA is aiming to land astronauts on the Moon in 2028, as The Boston Report covered in its Artemis III explainer.[3]
The pace of Starship development has been slower than SpaceX intended.[1] NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has said the United States is in a race with China to reach the Moon.[1] China plans to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030.[1]
More space coverage is in The Boston Report’s Science section and SpaceX archive.
Sources
- BBC News: First catch aborted in SpaceX Starship rocket double-catch test
- CNBC: SpaceX launches Starship in key test flight of massive rocket
- The Guardian: SpaceX Starship megarocket blasts off before expected return for reuse
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