Starship Flight 15: Launch Time, Double Catch and Status

When is Starship Flight 15 launching?

Starship Flight 15 is targeted for Friday 13 November 2026, in a 75-minute window that opens at 22:45 UTC and closes at 00:00 UTC on 14 November ^[1][5]. SpaceX's mission page gives the window as 4:45 p.m. Central Time (CT) and says the flight is preparing to launch "as soon as" 13 November, "pending regulatory approval" ^[1]. Space.com, citing SpaceX, gives the same window as 5:45 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EST ^[5].

Status as of 04:00 UTC on 13 November 2026: the SpaceX page still carried the "pending regulatory approval" wording, and no new date had been announced ^[1]. Space.com's live coverage on 12 November said liftoff was "on track" for 13 November at 22:45 UTC ^[4]. A launch can still move because of weather, a technical problem or paperwork; SpaceX itself says the schedule is "dynamic and likely to change" ^[1].

SpaceNews reported the 13 November target on 7 November ^[6]. Space.com reported that SpaceX had not announced official backup days, but that earlier Starship delays usually moved to a later day at a similar time ^[5].

What time is the Starship launch in my time zone?

The window opens at 22:45 UTC on 13 November, which is 4:45 p.m. in Texas and 5:45 p.m. in New York ^[1][5]. For readers in western and central Europe, the opening time is late evening on 13 November (22:45 in London, 23:45 in Berlin); in Turkey, the Middle East and Asia it falls after midnight, on 14 November. The conversions in the table below are simple arithmetic from the official UTC time; daylight saving time has already ended in the US and Europe, so Central Time is UTC-6 and Eastern Time is UTC-5.

The live webcast is due to begin about 30 minutes before liftoff on SpaceX's Flight 15 page and on its X account ^[1]. Space.com says it will carry the same feed, starting at about 22:15 UTC if the launch is on time ^[5].

If the launch happens later in the window, every later event in the flight moves by the same amount. A launch at the very end of the window, 00:00 UTC on 14 November, would move the planned ship catch to about 22:32 UTC on 14 November ^[5].

What is a double catch, and why does it matter?

A double catch means both stages of Starship, the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage (the "ship"), fly back to the launch tower and are grabbed by its mechanical arms instead of falling into the sea ^[1][4]. The tower arms are often called "chopsticks" ^[4].

SpaceX has caught Super Heavy boosters before: its Flight 15 page says three V1 boosters were caught on earlier flights and two of them flew again ^[1]. A ship has never been caught. Space.com explains why this is harder: the ship flies higher and farther than the booster, so its return is more complex and energetic ^[4].

SpaceX says that, if it succeeds, Flight 15 "will mark the first full recovery of an orbital launch system" ^[1]. SpaceX says full recovery is what enables full and rapid reuse, with an "airplane-like cadence" where a vehicle flies again quickly ^[2]. That is the company's goal, not a demonstrated result: no Starship ship has yet been caught or reflown.

This flight also tests new hardware. It will be the first catch attempt for a Super Heavy V3 booster, Booster 22, and the ship is Ship 42 ^[1][4].

What happens during the 22-hour flight?

If everything goes to plan, the booster is caught about 6.5 minutes after liftoff, the ship deploys 26 satellites in its first 80 minutes, coasts for about 21 hours, and returns for its own catch about 22 hours 32 minutes after launch ^[1][2]. The times below come from SpaceX's published flight timeline, which it marks as approximate ^[1].

• T+0:02:21: hot-staging; the ship's Raptor engines light while still attached and the stages separate ^[1].
• T+0:06:35: booster landing burn ends and the tower attempts the catch ^[1].
• T+0:26:10 to 0:26:30: orbital insertion burn with one sea-level Raptor engine ^[1][2].
• T+0:35:01 to 1:17:40: deployment of 26 Starlink V3 satellites ^[1].
• T+1:27:46, 7:15:35 and 20:41:55: return checks for early Hawaii, mid-mission Chile and final Hawaii options ^[1].
• T+21:35:57: deorbit burn ^[1].
• T+22:32:34: landing burn shutdown and ship catch ^[1].

SpaceX describes the orbit as about 275 km high, with roughly 14 orbits over more than 22 hours ^[1]. Space.com notes that, because the ship stays up so long, it may be visible from the ground as a bright, fast-moving point of light, similar to the International Space Station ^[4].

Will Starship really return over land?

Yes, if it passes its checks: to reach Starbase, the ship must fly over sparsely populated parts of northern Mexico and southern Texas, something no Starship has done before ^[2]. On every earlier flight, Starship ended its mission over the ocean by design ^[2].

SpaceX's 7 November update lays out the safety plan ^[2]:

• The ship first goes onto a passively safe suborbital path, so a problem during ascent ends with re-entry over a cleared part of the Indian Ocean ^[2].
• Controllers then decide "go" or "no-go" for orbit ^[2].
• During the coast, they check engines, power, communications, flight computers, navigation sensors, tanks, pressure and attitude control; SpaceX calls these checks "intentionally conservative" ^[2].
• The ship returns only if it meets "internally developed, and FAA-approved" conditions; otherwise it can splash down in precleared areas near Hawaii or off Chile ^[2].
• During re-entry, controllers can deliberately tumble the ship so it breaks up before reaching land, and there is a late option to put it in the Gulf instead of the tower ^[2][5].

SpaceX also warns that people in Cameron County, Texas, and nearby may hear one or more sonic booms as the ship approaches, which it says do not present a health risk ^[2].

What happened on Starship Flight 14?

Flight 14, on 28 September 2026, was Starship's first flight to reach orbit, but SpaceX ended it after about three hours instead of the planned ten ^[3][7][8]. SpaceX says the ship deployed all 26 Starlink V3 satellites, then, "out of an abundance of caution" after an engine issue during ascent, the team limited its time in orbit and brought it down in the northern Pacific ^[3].

Reuters reported that one of the ship's main engines shut down early on reaching space, which cut the mission from 10 hours to three ^[8]. The Associated Press reported that the ship tipped over and burst into flames after splashdown north of Hawaii ^[7]. On that flight the booster splashed down in the Gulf rather than being caught ^[8].

Flight 15 builds on those results. SpaceX says the ship's heatshield carries the improvements made for Flight 14, plus a large area of new curved tiles designed to reduce heating in the gaps between tiles ^[1].

How can you watch Starship Flight 15?

The simplest way is the free SpaceX webcast on its Flight 15 page and its X account, which is due to start about 30 minutes before liftoff ^[1]. Space.com plans to carry the same stream and has also listed the long-running independent pad cameras of NASASpaceflight ^[5].

• Check the time again on launch day. Confirm the date on SpaceX's own page shortly before the window; launch dates often move by a day or more ^[1].
• Watch for the second catch the next day. If the launch happens at 22:45 UTC, the ship catch would be around 21:17 UTC on 14 November, according to Space.com's calculation from SpaceX's timeline ^[5].
• In person: SpaceX has no official viewing site; Space.com lists public spots such as Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, about 8 km away ^[5]. Space.com points to the official Starbase page for beach and highway closure alerts ^[5].
• Use official feeds. Stick to SpaceX's own page and X account, or an outlet that carries that feed, rather than unofficial streams ^[1][5].

For background on the business behind the rocket, see SpaceX Stock Price (SPCX): The IPO, Price History and Key Risks. For the satellite side, T-Mobile SpaceX Deal Rejected: What It Means for Satellite Phones covers Starlink's direct-to-phone service.

What is confirmed, and what could still change?

Confirmed by SpaceX: the flight plan, the 22:45 UTC window, the 26 satellites and the double-catch goal ^[1][2]. Not confirmed as of 04:00 UTC on 13 November: a final go for launch ^[1].

Things that could still change the plan:

• Regulatory approval. SpaceX's page says the launch is pending it ^[1]. The return over land needs FAA-approved conditions, according to SpaceX ^[2].
• Weather and technical holds. Any delay moves both catch times.
• An early end. Flight 14 shows that SpaceX can cut a mission short if something looks wrong; that is part of the safety plan, not a failure of it ^[2][3].

Separately from this launch, the FAA is preparing a wider environmental review of SpaceX's plan to fly Starship far more often from Starbase, with virtual public meetings on 17 to 19 November 2026 and comments open until 7 December 2026 ^[9]. That review concerns future launch rates, not Flight 15 itself.