An update to my earlier post on SpaceX firing up Ship 42 ahead of Flight 15 (linked below). We now have a date and a window.
Space.com reports that Starship Flight 15 is scheduled no earlier than Friday, Nov. 13, opening at 5:45 p.m. Eastern / 4:45 p.m. Chicago time, from Starbase in South Texas. SpaceX has a 75-minute window, so liftoff could slip as late as 7 p.m. Eastern / 6 p.m. Chicago time. The company’s livestream, which Space.com will also carry, is set to start 30 minutes before liftoff.
This is the flight SpaceX has been pointing to as its first attempt to recover both stages: catch Super Heavy (Booster 22) back at the tower about six and a half minutes after launch, then bring the Ship all the way home for a catch of its own. If the mission runs its full length, Space.com says it lasts just over 22.5 hours, with a Ship landing back at Starbase on Saturday afternoon, around 3:17 p.m. Chicago time if they go at the opening of the window, or about 4:32 p.m. if they go at the end. SpaceX has caught a Super Heavy booster before. It has never caught a Ship, and it has never tried a full recovery of an orbital rocket in one flight. I also wrote earlier, after the October earnings call, about the plan to attempt that double catch.
My take
Friday is a date, not a guarantee, and “no earlier than” still means weather or a scrub can move it. But if they stack and go, this is the test that shows whether rapid reuse is a speech or a machine. I’ll be watching the window.
God Bless, and May the Source Be with You!
