SpaceX launch plans call for a double-catch attempt on Friday, Nov. 13, at Starbase, Texas. The company will try to grab both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage with the launch tower’s arms during Starship Flight 15.
The launch is expected sometime after 5:45 p.m. ET. SpaceX will first aim to catch the booster about 6.5 minutes after liftoff, then send Starship on a flight that is expected to last more than 22 hours before its own catch attempt on Saturday.
Elon Musk on Flight 15
Elon Musk, SpaceX chief executive, said on the company’s October earnings call that success was “more likely than not.” Adam Jonas called a successful Starship catch “the biggest positive catalyst since the IPO,” putting the mission squarely in Wall Street’s focus.
That attention reflects how much rides on a recovery that has never been done before. SpaceX has caught the booster three times before, but it has never caught Starship, and the upper-stage recovery is the harder part of the test.
Starship and Starlink V3
SpaceX says Starship will orbit the Earth 14 times and deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites. The company’s latest quarter included $14.6 billion in overall sales and $1.8 billion from its launch business, though that launch figure does not include revenue from sending up SpaceX’s own Starlink satellites.
SpaceX first reached orbit with Starship in September during Flight 14. During that mission, an engine problem cut a planned 10-hour mission to about three hours, after two boosters before Flight 14 ended in hard landings and Flight 14’s booster splashed down in the ocean.
Starbase catch attempt
If the booster catch works, SpaceX will have another recovery under its belt before Starship even returns. The harder question sits with the upper stage: whether it can come back from orbit, reenter, and reach the tower on Saturday after spending more than 22 hours in flight.
For investors, the practical read is simple. A clean double catch would move SpaceX closer to full reuse, while the rest of the mission — especially the upper-stage recovery — remains the part that will decide whether the company turns a one-off test into a repeatable system.
