Starship Flight 15 Powers to Orbit—Setting Up a Possible Catch on Saturday
One way or another, the company will get some more data on Saturday.
TL;DR
- Starship completed its 15th test flight, launching from Starbase, Texas.
- The rocket successfully reached low-Earth orbit for the second time.
- 26 Starlink V3 satellites were deployed into orbit.
- The first stage was lost during reentry into the Gulf of Mexico.
- The upper stage is scheduled for a potential catch attempt on Saturday.
- Successful return of the upper stage would be historic and provide data on reentry performance.
- SpaceX is working on improving the heat shield and tile durability for rapid reusability.
- Learnings from previous flights, including tile retention mechanisms and curved tile designs, are being applied.