SpaceX to launch Starship on 15th test flight today, attempt to catch both stages—here’s how to watch live

SpaceX’s 15th integrated test flight of Starship is finally upon us. The world’s largest rocket will launch from Starbase, Texas, in what would be its most complex and longest mission to date and its second orbital flight. SpaceX will attempt to catch both the first stage Super Heavy Booster and the upper stage Ship 42—something which has never been done before—marking a huge step toward achieving full reusability of the rocket.

When is Starship launching today?

Ship 42 has already been moved to the Starbase pad. The lift-off is targeted within a 75-minute launch window that will open at 4:45 pm CT/5:45 pm EST. A live webcast of the launch will begin 30 minutes prior to the scheduled launch and you can watch it on SpaceX’s website and X handle. SpaceX says the launch coverage will continue through ship catch and will possibly include hours of live views from Starship as it orbits Earth.

Starship ready for Flight 15

As mentioned above, Flight 15 could be Starship’s longest mission to date if all goes as planned. According to SpaceX, the upper stage will make approximately 14 orbits of Earth after reaching orbit and will coast for around 21 hours before deorbiting and heading to Starbase. This means that while the Booster will be caught a few minutes after liftoff, the Ship 42 will return to the launch site on November 14. 

Similar to Flight 14, Starship will reach an altitude of approximately 170 miles (275 km) and deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites. Flight 14 was supposed to be 10 hours long but it had to be cut short after the upper stage encountered problems with its engines. It remains to be seen how Ship 42 performs on the upcoming mission and whether it will last the full 22 hours. 

SpaceX has plans in place if things go wrong with the upper stage. It has marked five contingency landing areas for Starship to make a splashdown in the ocean earlier than planned if it encounters problems again. These areas are in the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of America—Starship may also be destroyed in the air if proceeding with the mission is no longer feasible and the catch could be aborted.

“Flight controllers will only permit Starship to return to Starbase if the vehicle’s status meets our internally developed, and FAA-approved, conditions for a return to launch site and catch,” SpaceX has said in its mission description. If Ship 42 does make it to the final stage, it will fly over inhabited areas in Mexico and Southern Texas. It's possible that residents of Texan regions like Cameron County may hear one or more sonic booms as the spacecraft returns to the launch site. If the mission is successful, it will be the first time an orbital rocket is fully recovered. Besides, SpaceX may routinely start catching upper stages of Starship and reflying them on future missions starting 2027.

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