SpaceX is preparing for a historic milestone with the scheduled launch of its Starship Flight 15 mission on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. Liftoff is targeted for 5:45 p.m. EST (2245 GMT) from the company's Starbase facility in South Texas, with the mission also carrying 26 new Starlink V3 satellites into orbit.
The 15th test flight of the world's largest and most powerful rocket introduces an ambitious 22.5-hour profile featuring SpaceX's first-ever double landing attempt. Engineers plan to recover both the Super Heavy Booster 22 and the Ship 42 upper stage by catching them using the metal "Chopstick" arms at the launch pad. The Super Heavy booster is expected to return minutes after liftoff, while the Ship upper stage will complete multiple orbits before returning for its landing approximately 22 hours later on Saturday afternoon.
Ahead of the countdown, SpaceX stacked the Ship 42 upper stage—bearing a "Don't Panic" sci-fi inscription referencing The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy—atop its Super Heavy booster at the pad. If successful, the test flight will mark the first full recovery of an entire orbital rocket and spacecraft from space.
