SpaceX Starship Flight 15: Booster Directed Into Gulf of Mexico
The Starship megafrocket towers 124 meters high, outpacing Rio de Janeiro’s 38-meter Cristo Redentor statue as it blasted off from Starbase, Texas, at 7:45 p.m. Brasília time on Friday.
SpaceX's 15th integrated test flight aimed to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft using the launch tower's mechanical arms, known as chopsticks. While the booster successfully lifted the stack, the company ultimately aborted the first-stage return maneuver, directing the hardware into the Gulf of Mexico instead of the launch mount.
Live webcast of Starship's 15th flight test starts now → https://t.co/xvmIH2diNA
Dan Huot, porta-voz da SpaceX, afirmou durante a transmissão do voo.
The booster failure left the mission split, as the upper-stage spacecraft continued into Earth orbit to carry out the remainder of the flight profile. The vehicle carried 26 Starlink V3 satellites, deploying them into orbit as part of an operational payload run, according to Poder360.
Starship Orbits the Planet for over 22 Hours
The Starship spacecraft remains in orbit, where it is scheduled to complete roughly 14 revolutions around the planet over a duration exceeding 22 hours, as reported by UOL. Engineers designed the flight profile to test the vehicle’s durability under extreme thermal loads before the spacecraft attempts a controlled descent back to the Texas launch site.
If systems check out during the orbital cruise, the spacecraft will target a return to Starbase on Saturday, approximately 22 hours and 10 minutes after lift-off, with the mechanical tower arms attempting to catch the second stage 22 minutes later, according to UOL.
Alternative splashdown zones in the Pacific Ocean—including locations near Hawaii and off the coast of Chile—remain mapped out in the event that mission controllers must cut the flight short.
Starship is preparing for catch Flight 15 is targeting to launch as early as Friday, November 13, pending regulatory approval → https://t.co/K5XRci6bnw pic.twitter.com/WS2xGLjVsx
The test follows the system’s 14th integrated flight on September 28, which reached orbit and deployed payloads before concluding early due to engine anomalies. NASA is tracking the vehicle’s development closely for the Artemis 4 lunar program scheduled for 2028, which relies on the Starship to land astronauts on the Moon.