SpaceX got Starship Flight 15’s upper-stage spacecraft to orbit on November 13, 2026, but didn’t get its Super Heavy booster back to the launch tower. Controllers abandoned the planned catch and diverted the booster to a splashdown off the Texas Gulf Coast, where it caught fire, CBS News and CNBC reported. SourceSource
SpaceX still planned to attempt its first upper-stage tower catch on November 14, at the end of a roughly 22-hour mission, if conditions allowed, according to CBS’s post-launch account. Recovering both stages on Flight 15 was off the table. SourceSource
The booster catch was called off
Flight 15 lifted off from Starbase in South Texas at 4:47 p.m. local time, or 5:47 p.m. EST. Super Heavy is the lower stage that supplies the initial thrust; the Starship upper stage separates and continues toward orbit. SourceSource
A little more than six minutes after liftoff, controllers ordered the booster’s diversion because of an unspecified technical problem, according to CBS. Residual propellants ignited after splashdown, the outlet reported. Source
The upper stage kept going. After coasting, it restarted a single Raptor engine to reach its planned orbit, CBS reported. Source
SpaceX had caught Super Heavy boosters on three previous test flights, according to CBS, using giant mechanical arms on the launch tower. Flight 15 aimed to bring the upper stage back, too, recovering both stages during the same mission. SourceSource
The upper-stage catch still came with conditions
The plan called for quite a parking maneuver. Starship would descend belly-first, restart three engines to flip upright, then reduce to two engines and finally one as it positioned itself between the tower’s catch arms, according to Spaceflight Now’s mission explainer. Source
CBS quoted SpaceX outlining contingency splashdowns around Hawaii and off Chile during the orbital portion of the mission, plus a late-reentry diversion into the Gulf if the spacecraft or tower couldn’t support a catch. Source
The point of all this aerial choreography is to fly the hardware again. Recovering both stages is intended to help SpaceX launch more often. CNBC reported that Starship is central to expanding the company’s Starlink satellite internet business. SourceSourceSource
A catch alone wouldn’t demonstrate how quickly SpaceX could prepare the spacecraft to fly again. The upper stage’s return remained unresolved in the available post-launch reports. SourceSource
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