The rocket SpaceX wants to launch from Pecan Island faces its biggest test yet this week.

SpaceX says Starship’s 15th flight could lift off from Starbase, Texas, as soon as Friday, Nov. 13, in a 75-minute window opening at 4:45 p.m. Central. The launch still needs regulatory approval, and the company warns the date is likely to move.

What makes this one different

For the first time, SpaceX plans to bring both stages back to the launch tower and catch them in its mechanical arms: the Super Heavy booster minutes after liftoff, and the Starship upper stage after almost a full day in orbit. If both catches work, the company says, it would be the first complete recovery of an orbital launch system.

Here is the plan, according to SpaceX’s flight page:

  • The booster separates, turns around and flies back for a catch. It is the first catch try for the newer V3 version of Super Heavy. SpaceX has caught three earlier boosters, and two of those flew again.
  • The ship climbs to about 275 kilometers (roughly 170 miles), releases 26 of SpaceX’s newest Starlink satellites, and circles Earth about 14 times over more than 22 hours.
  • The homecoming: Starship heads back to Texas for a catch only if flight controllers confirm the systems it needs for reentry and landing are healthy. If not, SpaceX says it has planned safe places to bring it down over the ocean.

Three of the satellites carry cameras to photograph Starship’s heat shield in orbit, so engineers can check it before committing to a return. The ship also carries heat-shield changes from the last flight, including extra tile fasteners and a curved tile design meant to cut heating in the gaps.

Why it matters in Vermilion Parish

Catching and quickly reflying both stages is the whole idea behind Starship, and behind the kind of launch site SpaceX is planning near Pecan Island. One of the company’s Louisiana job listings describes the site as a “Starship high-rate launch site.” [See every Louisiana opening.](/news/spacex-louisiana-jobs-pecan-island/)

A rocket that comes home in one piece can fly again within days instead of being rebuilt. That is how SpaceX can talk about hundreds of launches a year: on Tuesday the FAA published its plan to study up to 456 Starship launches a year from the Texas site alone. [Read that story.](/news/faa-starbase-texas-456-launches-gulf-landings-virtual-hearings/)

How to watch

SpaceX will stream the flight on its website and its X account, starting about 30 minutes before liftoff. The company says coverage could run through the ship’s catch the next day, with hours of live video from orbit.

Launch times and the countdown are also on the Times’ [Starbase Watch page](/starbase/#live), which updates on its own.