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SpaceX will launch epic double-catch Starship Flight 15 test mission on Nov. 13
The company apparently isn't worried about flying on Friday the 13th.
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SpaceX will make spaceflight history this week, if all goes according to plan.
The company announced over the weekend that it's targeting Friday (Nov. 13) for the 15th test flight of its Starship megarocket, which will attempt something that's never been done before.
"The upcoming flight is planned to be the first to return both Starship and Super Heavy to the launch site for catch," SpaceX wrote in a description of Flight 15. "If successful, this will mark the first full recovery of an orbital launch system and a breakthrough moment in making Starship a reliable, rapidly reusable rocket."
Super Heavy is Starship's giant booster, and Starship (or Ship for short) is its upper-stage spacecraft. As SpaceX's description noted, both elements are designed to be fully and rapidly reusable.
"Catch" refers to SpaceX's recovery mechanism for both stages: Each will return to the launch mount at SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas and be plucked out of the sky by the tower's "chopstick" arms.
SpaceX has caught Super Heavy on three Starship flights to date, but it has never tried the maneuver with Ship. It's a taller order; Ship flies higher and farther than Super Heavy, so its return to Earth is more complex and energetic.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk already told us that Flight 15 would likely feature a double-catch attempt. But the newly released mission description gives us a launch date, as well as details about the flight.
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