Space digest — Nov 2, 2026
Top line: Starbase's week ends with a first: a Starship crew-cabin mockup for the Human Landing System is under construction inside the Starfactory, while Starship Flight 15 stands at NET November 12, pending a license change. Separately, market coverage frames Rocket Lab down nearly two-thirds since May as its spacecraft-manufacturing business outgrows launch.
Starbase turns to an HLS cabin mockup as Flight 15 lands its November date
What happened: The week's Starbase round-up carries two forward-looking items. A Starship cabin mockup for the Human Landing System is being built inside the Starfactory, for testing that includes human-in-the-loop work — described as a step toward crewed lunar landings on Artemis 4. On the launch side, a CADENA air-traffic advisory puts Flight 15 at NET November 12 from Pad 2, contingent on a modified launch license that would allow a ship catch there. The rest of the week is hardware flow: Booster 24 completed stacking, Ship 45 finished its methane tank and began its oxygen tank, Ship 42 ran single-engine and six-engine static fires at Massey's, Ship 43 passed cryo tests and moved to the launch site for catch testing, and Booster 22 (the Flight 15 booster) completed its static-fire campaign and moved into pre-flight checks.
What's genuinely new: The cabin mockup is the first report of HLS crew-habitat hardware being built at Starbase, with human-in-the-loop testing named as its purpose. The November 12 net date corroborates the earlier slip from the circulated November 8 dual-catch target.
Watch: Whether the launch-license modification allowing a ship catch at Pad 2 lands ahead of November 12; details on the cabin mockup and its human-in-the-loop test plans.
Links: NASASpaceflight, relaying StarshipTracking (X post) · Nov 1, 2:20 PM ET
Brief
- A 24/7 Wall St. analysis argues Rocket Lab's near-two-thirds share-price decline since May sits against a growing picture: backlog outpacing revenue and a spacecraft-manufacturing business already larger than launch. 24/7 Wall St.
- NASA is accepting public submissions to send names to Saturn's moon Titan aboard the Dragonfly rotorcraft, which is set to launch in 2028. Starlust