SpaceX plans to launch Starship on its 15th test flight today, and for the first time it will try to catch both stages of the rocket back at the launch tower, Space.com reports. The 75-minute launch window opens at 5:45 p.m. ET (2:45 p.m. PT) from SpaceX’s Starbase site in South Texas.
The timeline (Eastern time, if it launches at the start of the window)
- About 5:45 p.m. Friday: liftoff.
- About 6.5 minutes later: the Super Heavy booster returns to Starbase to be caught by the tower’s “chopstick” arms. SpaceX has done this on three earlier flights.
- About 35 minutes after launch: the upper stage, called Ship, starts deploying 26 of SpaceX’s next-generation Starlink V3 satellites over a 42-minute stretch.
- Saturday afternoon, about 22.5 hours after launch: Ship returns from orbit for its own tower catch, which has never been tried.
“If successful, this will mark the first full recovery of an orbital launch system,” SpaceX wrote in its mission description, as quoted by Space.com.
Why catching the ship is harder
Super Heavy only goes up and comes back. Ship flies farther and faster, all the way to orbit, and has to survive re-entry before steering itself back to the tower. Catching both lets SpaceX inspect and refly the rocket much faster than recovering it from the ocean, which is the whole point of a fully reusable launcher.
How to watch
SpaceX usually streams its launches on its website and on X, and Space.com is carrying the stream. Launch times slip often, so check before you sit down, and expect the Saturday catch to depend on how Friday goes.
Why it’s worth your time: Every rocket that reaches orbit today throws away at least part of itself. If both catches work, it’s a first for an orbital launch system, and a big step toward the cheap, frequent launches that SpaceX’s own Starlink network and a lot of other space businesses are counting on.