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SpaceX's first attempt to catch both Starship stages takes place November 13

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SpaceX's first attempt to catch both Starship stages takes place November 13

The company has never attempted to catch the upper Ship stage before.

SpaceX is aiming to launch Starship's Flight 15 mission on November 13. It's still pending regulatory approval, but if it gets the go-ahead and the weather is favorable, the super heavy-lift vehicle's 75-minute launch window will open at 5:45PM Eastern time that day. Flight 15 won't be like any of the vehicle's previous test flights. SpaceX will attempt to retrieve the full orbital launch system, both the Super Heavy booster and the Ship upper stage, for the first time.

The company had returned and caught Starship's Super Heavy booster thrice in the past. It has never attempted to catch Ship, though, because it travels much higher and faster than the booster, making it more difficult to catch.

Starship achieved its first orbital flight during the vehicle's 14th test mission. However, SpaceX had to cut the trip short, and Ship only spent around two hours in orbit instead of the 10 hours the company had planned. This time, SpaceX will try to get Ship to orbit our planet around 14 times in a flight that's expected to last more than 22 hours before the vehicle deorbits. The stage will also deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites as part of its primary objectives.

In the company's latest earnings call, Elon Musk showed a short video, demonstrating how SpaceX intends to catch both the Super Heavy and Ship stages. It will use its launch tower's "chopstick arms" to catch Super Heavy like it did in the past, just a few minutes after launch.


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