Starship is in orbit, but the booster SpaceX meant to catch ended in flames in the Gulf of Mexico
SpaceX's 15th Starship test flight reached orbit and released 26 Starlink satellites after launching from Texas at 6.47am AWST on Saturday. The plan to catch both stages with the launch tower is already half undone: the Super Heavy booster was diverted about six minutes after liftoff and burst into flames in the Gulf of Mexico. The ship is due back at Starbase around 5.20am AWST on Sunday.
Live updates
- 1.10pm AWST SatLatest
Ship 42 is in orbit after deploying its satellites, with a return to Starbase planned for about 5.20am AWST Sunday.
- 7.13am AWST Sat
The ship reaches orbit and deploys 26 Version 3 Starlink satellites.
- About 6.53am AWST Sat
Flight controllers divert Booster 22 away from the tower catch; it bursts into flames in a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
- 6.47am AWST Sat
Starship lifts off from Starbase, Texas, on its 15th test flight.
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Three things to know
- This was the first attempt to catch both the booster and the ship. No Starship upper stage has ever been caught, and no booster of this newest version has made it back.
- SpaceX has not said why the booster was diverted. It broke apart and burned in an offshore splashdown.
- The ship's job went to plan so far: it reached orbit and deployed 26 of SpaceX's larger Version 3 Starlink satellites, and is flying about 14 orbits before coming home.
SpaceX launched its most ambitious Starship test yet at 4.47pm local time on Friday from Starbase in south Texas, 6.47am AWST on Saturday, and within minutes half of the plan was gone.
The Super Heavy booster, known as Booster 22, was meant to fly back to the launch pad about six and a half minutes after liftoff and be caught by the tower’s mechanical arms. Just over six minutes in, flight controllers diverted it instead to an offshore splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, where it burst into flames. SpaceX has not given a reason.
The upper stage, Ship 42, kept going. It reached orbit and deployed 26 Version 3 Starlink satellites, the second Starship flight in a row to carry a batch of them.
What happens to the ship now?
It is flying about 14 orbits over roughly 22 and a half hours. SpaceX plans to bring it back to Starbase around 4.20pm EST on Saturday, 5.20am AWST on Sunday, on a path across Mexico and south Texas. If a return to Texas looks unsafe, SpaceX has backup options to splash down early off Hawaii or Chile.
Catching the ship would be a first. SpaceX has caught three earlier boosters with the tower, but never the upper stage, and never a Version 3 booster.
Why do catches matter?
Reuse is the whole business case. A rocket caught by its own tower can be refuelled and flown again without being fished out of the ocean, which is how SpaceX hopes to make Starship cheap enough to launch constantly.
The immediate use is Starlink. SpaceX says one Starship can carry up to 60 of the new satellites, about 20 times what its Falcon 9 rocket can lift. The constellation already has more than 11,000 active satellites in low Earth orbit, and SpaceX said on X its goal was for Starlink to become “51% of the internet”. For Australians, Starlink is already a common way to get online in regional and remote areas.
One analyst at the investment firm William Blair said a delay of a few months from a failed catch “is not that consequential”.
Did the US flight shutdown affect it?
No. The Federal Aviation Administration authorised the flight earlier on Friday. Hours later it stopped departing flights across the US after air traffic control centres lost communications, but an FAA spokesperson said SpaceX’s licence was not affected.
VNN will update this story as more is confirmed.
How we got here
The key moments that brought this story into focus. Open any moment for detail.
2024First booster catch
SpaceX catches a Super Heavy booster with the launch tower's arms for the first time.
September 2026Starlink V3 debut
An earlier Starship flight carries the first batch of 26 Version 3 Starlink satellites.
12 November 2026US$74 billion AI plan
SpaceX announces more than US$74 billion for AI supercomputing campuses in Texas and Arizona.
13 November 2026Flight 15
First attempt to catch both stages; the booster is diverted to the sea and the ship reaches orbit.
What happens next
The ship's return is planned for around 5.20am AWST on Sunday, with a splashdown off Hawaii or Chile as the fallback. SpaceX has not yet explained why the booster was diverted.
Sources
- VNN
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