SpaceX launched its Starship program's 15th test flight from Starbase in South Texas, a mission aiming to become the first to reach orbit and then return to its exact launch site. The full stack, with the Starship spacecraft atop the Super Heavy booster and rising to the height of a 40-story building, lifted off and placed 26 Starlink satellites into orbit within the first two hours of flight.
The mission's plan to recover both stages suffered a setback when the Super Heavy booster was diverted from its intended return trajectory toward the Gulf of Mexico. It briefly hovered before exploding a short distance above the water, and no explanation was immediately provided for the diversion or loss. The booster was the upgraded version measuring 236 feet, the production model intended for moon and Mars expeditions, and this was the first attempt to catch it. SpaceX had previously made three booster grabs at Starbase, which made the miss especially unexpected.S1S2
Despite the booster failure, the upper spacecraft continued on course and was scheduled to circle Earth for nearly a day, completing around 15 laps at an altitude of about 170 miles. Mission controllers planned to guide it back to the launch tower on Saturday, where mechanical arms would attempt to catch it in midair, a first for a spacecraft returning from orbit. The flight could last as long as 22 hours, barring further trouble. A safe return would be a major step toward Elon Musk's goal of sharply cutting launch costs through full rocket reusability, something no one has yet achieved.S1S2
The mission follows the September flight, which was the first Starship launch to reach orbit, although some engines malfunctioned during that test. Across the 14 earlier Starships, the spacecraft portions ended up in the ocean, either by design or after accidents. SpaceX plans to start launching Starships from Florida within a few months and from Louisiana in a few years, with company vice president of launch Kiko Dontchev arguing that full reusability is how the company scales from zero launches to 100,000.S1S2
