SpaceX to try double catch of booster and ship on Starship Flight 15, NET Nov. 13

Per Teslarati, Musk wrote on X on Nov. 6 that SpaceX will attempt to catch both the Super Heavy booster and Starship on the upcoming flight, calling it "the critical breakthrough needed to make life multiplanetary." He put the odds of success at "more likely than not."

The plan flies Booster 22 and Ship 42, both Block 3, from Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas. The booster is caught about 6 minutes 35 seconds after liftoff; the ship deploys 26 Starlink V3 satellites from a roughly 275 km orbit, flies about 14 orbits over more than 22 hours, then returns for a tower catch around T+22 h 32 min. Booster catches have happened on Flights 5, 7 and 8; the ship has never been caught.

The target is no earlier than Friday, Nov. 13, in a 75-minute window opening at 4:45 p.m. CT, pending FAA approval — the license was not yet listed on the agency's Starship page. Flight 14 on Sept. 28 was the first Starship to reach orbit. Musk has also named a Flight 16 in which both booster and ship would fly again.

For Tesla shareholders, this is a gauge of SpaceX's technical progress while a SpaceX–Tesla merger review is under discussion. The date depends on regulatory approval.