In its 15th test flight from Starbase in Texas, Elon Musk's giant embarks on an unprecedented space challenge, attempting to simultaneously recover both stages of the gigantic system with the tower's mechanical arms.
SpaceX is moving forward with an undertaking that surpasses all precedent in the history of aerospace engineering, attempting during the 15th test flight of Starship to conquer the ultimate milestone of fully reusable rockets.
For the first time on record, Elon Musk's company will attempt to "catch" in mid-air upon their return to the launch pad both the gigantic Super Heavy booster rocket and the Starship spacecraft itself.
A 40-story skyscraper launches from Texas
The ignition of the colossal system is scheduled to take place from the Starbase facilities in southern Texas, with the 75-minute launch window opening today at 17:45 local time (00:45 early Saturday morning, Greece time).
The dimensions of the rocket assembly induce vertigo, as the combined Starship and Super Heavy stack reaches a height equivalent to a building of roughly 40 stories.
Specifically, the Super Heavy booster rocket rises to 72 meters, matching a 23-story building, while the upper stage, the Starship spacecraft, adds another 52 meters, equivalent to 17 additional stories.
The double rendezvous with the tower's "chopsticks" and the 22-hour mission
The critical wager of the 15th flight focuses on the operation of the launch tower's specialized mechanical arms, the notorious "chopsticks."
Although SpaceX has already proven the reliability of the mechanism by achieving three spectacular catches of the Super Heavy booster in previous tests, recovering Starship itself represents uncharted waters.
Because the spacecraft travels a vastly greater distance and reaches dizzying reentry speeds, its approach and capture at the tower demand surgical precision.
The mission will unfold in two successive acts with a total duration of approximately 22.5 hours.
Just 6.5 minutes after liftoff, Super Heavy will separate and return first to Starbase, falling into the embrace of the tower's arms.
At the same time, Starship will continue its journey toward low Earth orbit, where it is scheduled to deploy 26 next-generation Starlink satellites.
The spacecraft will remain in orbit for nearly an entire 24-hour period before beginning its descent to attempt its own historic catch at the Texas tower, 22.5 hours after launch.
Plan B in the Pacific in case something goes wrong
Despite the enthusiasm, absolute realism prevails at SpaceX headquarters, as the success of such a complex maneuver is anything but guaranteed. The company has made clear that the telemetry system will continuously monitor every parameter, and if even the slightest anomaly is detected during flight, the attempt to catch Starship at the base will be aborted instantaneously.
In this emergency scenario, the spacecraft will be diverted from its trajectory toward Texas and directed toward a controlled splashdown in the open waters of the Pacific Ocean, either near Hawaii or in international waters off the coast of Chile.
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