SpaceX Plans 15th Starship Test Flight on November 14, Aiming for First Dual Recovery Attempt
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Author:小编   

SpaceX plans to conduct the 15th Starship test flight, attempting for the first time to use the launch tower's "chopstick" robotic arms to simultaneously catch both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft. If successful, this would mark the first time an orbital-class launch system has achieved complete recovery of both stages, advancing Starship's rapid reusability. The launch is scheduled to take place from Starbase in Texas within a 75-minute window starting at 4:45 p.m. local time on November 13 in the United States, and is still awaiting final regulatory approval. SpaceX has previously successfully caught the Super Heavy booster three times but has never attempted to catch the Starship spacecraft. In this mission, the booster will return and be caught after approximately 6 minutes and 30 seconds; Starship will operate in orbit for more than 22 hours, orbiting Earth about 14 times, deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites, and then re-enter the atmosphere and return to the launch site to be caught—a more difficult feat. Multiple safety plans are in place for the mission, and if conditions do not meet the requirements, it will switch to an ocean splashdown. This mission will also use improved next-generation Starship hardware and launch tower robotic arms.