Starship Flight 15 set for November 13, chasing the first catch of a returning upper stage
From the Space digest for Nov 6, 2026
Sources Drive Tesla Canada NASASpaceflight The Independent Starlust
What happened: SpaceX is targeting November 13 for Starship Flight 15, and the mission is expected to attempt the first-ever catch of the upper-stage Ship, SpaceX vice-president of launch Kiko Dontchev told the Up.Summit gathering on November 5 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Flight hardware is already deep in preparation: Booster 22 and Ship 42 completed full-duration static fires in October and are in final checkouts for a launch no earlier than November 13 from Starbase Pad 2 at Starbase, pending final inspections, flight-termination-system installation and a batch of Starlink satellites loaded aboard. The plan is to fly both stages back to the launch tower so its mechanical arms can attempt the catch — Elon Musk put the odds of a full recovery above even even after Flight 14 reached orbit and deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites in late September. The deciding approval is the FAA licence modification allowing Ship 42 to return to the tower over populated areas; the Flight 14 licence covered that flight alone. NASASpaceflight reports the working mission profile is about 24 hours in orbit, 15–16 laps — by far the longest Starship flight yet, feeding data on propellant boil-off ahead of the propellant-transfer demonstration NASA has placed in the first quarter of 2027 — and The Independent's account adds that a first in-orbit propellant-transfer test could form part of Flight 15 itself, against a standing dispute over how many such flights a Moon landing needs: NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel estimates about 22 Starship refueling missions, Musk publicly says "more like six to eight."
What's genuinely new: a firmer date from a named SpaceX executive — November 13 against the November 12 net date circulated in air-traffic advisories — plus NASASpaceflight's confirmed dual-catch profile at Pad 2, the roughly day-long flight plan, and the possibility that the first in-orbit propellant-transfer demonstration lands on this flight rather than a later one.
Watch: the FAA's ship-catch licence modification, the launch and catch outcome itself, and Flight 16's Florida debut timing.