For those who have even remotely followed the development of SpaceX's Starship rocket, the next flight test is likely one they've had circled on their calendars for awhile.
Well, at least since SpaceX recently announced the long-awaited target launch date.
That's because the commercial spaceflight company founded by tech mogul Elon Musk will once again attempt something it's never before done when the world's largest rocket next gets off the ground in South Texas.
Previous flights have ended with the upper section of the rocket either intentionally splashing down in the ocean or, as most infamously occurred for a stretch in 2025, unintentionally exploding in the air midflight. Now, for the first time since testing began more than three years ago,
SpaceX will attempt to recover not just a returning lower-stage booster of the rocket – as it has done before – but the upper stage meant to fly in space.
Ahead of a mission known as "flight 15," here's a look at how SpaceX plans to return and "catch" both sections of Starship at the launch site.
What is the Starship rocket?
SpaceX's Starship rocket is composed of two sections: the lower stage, known as Super Heavy, that provides the initial burst thrust at liftoff before separating, and the upper stage vehicle that will one day fly in space with crews and cargo.
Standing at 407 feet tall when fully stacked, the latest prototype of Starship is still undergoing test flights as SpaceX races to have it ready for NASA's Artemis lunar landings and Musk's own dreams of crewed trips to Mars.
When is Starship flight 15?
The next flight test is targeted for 5:45 to 7 p.m. ET Friday, Nov. 13 at SpaceX's Starbase company town and headquarters in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border, the company announced.
Because the mission would be Starship's 15th flight test since April 2023, SpaceX refers to it as "flight 15."
Starship could reach orbit for 2nd time in a row
SpaceX is planning for the upper stage of its Starship rocket to reach orbit for the second time in a row.
But while the previous Starship vehicle, dubbed Ship 41, only flew in orbit for three of its planned 10 hours at the end of September, this time, SpaceX wants it to circle Earth for nearly a full day.
Once the 236-foot Super Heavy booster completes its job and separates from the upper stage, SpaceX then expects that vehicle to reach an altitude of more than 170 miles high in a region of space known as low-Earth orbit. The objective is for the 171-foot Starship, this one referred to as Ship 42, to circle Earth as many as 14 times during a mission stretching for 22 hours.
Starship to deploy more Starlink satellites
The previous flight test in which Starship reach an orbital milestone also saw the vehicle deploy operational Starlink satellites for the first time.
SpaceX had delivered test satellites in previous missions before, including a batch that was briefly operational in Starship's previous test flight in July that intentionally burned up in the atmosphere. But on Sept. 28, the batch of third-generation Starlink satellites raised their orbits to begin serving customers.
Once again, SpaceX intends for Starship to deploy another 26 next-generation Starlink internet satellites.
SpaceX to attempt to catch both Starship stages for 1st time
But the big milestone will come at the end of the lengthy mission, when the upper section of the rocket attempts to return to the launch site for SpaceX to "catch" it undamaged out of the air.
If all goes to plan, the Super Heavy booster will have already long ago made its trip back to Starbase within about seven minutes of the launch, where a giant tower equipped with mechanical arms known as "chopsticks" safely nabbed it. The feat would mark the fourth time since October 2024 that SpaceX has caught a returning booster, and the first since March 2025.
About 22 hours later, the plan is for the upper section, Ship 42, to reenter Earth's atmosphere and begin its landing maneuvers. A second tower with arms would then grab it as it makes a controlled descent, marking the first time that SpaceX recovers both sections of the rocket.
Starship to fly over populated areas of Mexico, Texas
Up until this point, SpaceX said it has demonstrated the ability for Starship's upper section to "safely reenter the atmosphere to a pre-defined location with the accuracy needed to permit a catch," the company wrote on its website.
During those previous missions, Starship flew over the ocean and largely uninhabited areas.
But this time, Starship will have to fly over populated areas of northern Mexico and South Texas as it returns to the launch site. SpaceX, though, assured that flight teams will only approve a return to Starbase "if the vehicle’s status meets our internally developed" conditions that have been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches.
If flight controllers determine that a return is not safe, SpaceX can end the mission early – even, potentially, before the vehicle reaches orbit – with a water landing in pre-determined areas in the Indian and Pacific oceans, some of which are near Hawaii.
How SpaceX will pull off double catch
Here's a step-by-step guide for what a "catch" of the Starship upper stage would look like:
- Once it deploys its payload of Starlink satellites, Ship 42 would coast in space for another 21 hours until its orbit aligns with Starbase, according to SpaceX.
- Firing one of its six Raptor-class engines, the vehicle would then perform a maneuver known as a deorbit burn to place it on a course to reenter Earth's atmosphere at a precise point above the Pacific Ocean.
- While still thousands of miles away from Starbase, Ship 42 would then guide itself to approach SpaceX's headquarters from the west, weaving around major cities in the Rio Grande Valley and soaring to the north of South Padre Island. Its final turn over the Gulf Coast would take it south toward Starbase.
Starship is preparing for catch
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 7, 2026
Flight 15 is targeting to launch as early as Friday, November 13, pending regulatory approval → https://t.co/K5XRci6bnw pic.twitter.com/WS2xGLjVsx
- As it reenters, those in an around Cameron County, where Starbase is located, may hear the brief, thunder-like noises known as a sonic booms that occur when a vehicle flies faster than the speed of sound.
- When Ship 42 is close to Starbase, it would flip itself to a vertical position and carefully maneuver itself between the mechanical arms of the tower. As the vehicle hovers in the air, the tower arms would close around it to "catch" it before the spacecraft completely shuts down.
Returning Starship to launch site step toward reusability
SpaceX's objective for Starship is for it to become the first operational rocket that is fully reusable, meaning both the upper and lower sections can fly on multiple missions instead of being expended.
The company has for years been able to routinely reuse lower-stage boosters on its smaller Falcon 9 rocket – and even reused a Super Heavy booster on a previous Starship test flight. But a rapidly reusable upper-stage that has traveled to and from space would be unprecedented in the spaceflight industry.
The goal is critical for Musk, who has said he envisions Starship rockets eventually launching multiple times a day from spaceports across the U.S., including not just in Texas, but Florida and Louisiana.
"Recovering an entire orbital launch system has never been done, and Starship has always been designed to change that," SpaceX wrote on its website. "This full recovery is often referred to as the Holy Grail of rocketry as it enables full and rapid reuse of a rocket – opening the door to airplane-like cadence where a vehicle flies again rapidly."
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SpaceX targets 'Holy Grail of rocketry' with Starship flight 15
