Newshot SpaceX Starship 15th Test Flight Lifts Off: Super Heavy Booster Diverted Mid-Flight to Splash Down in Gulf of Mexico, Recovery Abandoned, Ship Still Flying
IT之家, November 14 — SpaceX's heavy-lift launch vehicle Starship lifted off from Texas on the afternoon of the 13th, Central Time, conducting its 15th test flight.
The launch window opened at 4:45 p.m. Central Time that day, and Starship lifted off from Orbital Launch Pad 2.
The mission used Super Heavy booster B22 and ship S42. It had originally been planned to achieve, for the first time, the return of both the booster and the ship to the launch site, with the launch tower's mechanical arms performing a mid-air catch and recovery, while also deploying 26 third-generation Starlink satellites.
Shortly after liftoff, Starship and the Super Heavy booster completed hot staging, the ship's Raptor engines ignited successfully, and the Super Heavy booster executed its return maneuver as planned.
SpaceX officials then confirmed that the Super Heavy booster had been diverted to splash down in the waters off the Gulf of Mexico, and that the launch tower mid-air catch had been canceled. After the ship's ascent burn ended, it entered the planned suborbital trajectory, and the team is checking the status of its systems to confirm whether to proceed with the orbital insertion operation.
Under the mission design, if the ship is cleared to enter low Earth orbit, it will complete about 14 laps at an altitude of roughly 275 kilometers, and after a mission duration of more than 22 hours, it will attempt to return to Starbase for a catch. Previously, the Super Heavy booster has been successfully caught by the launch tower three times, but there is no precedent for a mid-air catch of the ship. This test flight is the second orbital-class mission for the Starship system.
IT之家 noted that SpaceX had obtained the relevant regulatory approval before launch, and the launch process was streamed live on official platforms. The ship is currently still flying as planned, and whether it enters orbit and the final recovery outcome remain to be further confirmed.
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