'Don't panic': SpaceX pens familiar message on Starship ahead of historic double-catch test flight
The company's Starship megarocket will conduct its 15th test flight this afternoon, a landmark liftoff that will feature the first-ever attempt to catch both of its stages with its launch tower's "chopstick" arms.
Key points
- The next launch of Rocket Lab’s Electron vehicle is due to lift off from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand on November 14 at 5:30 UTC.
- Ship 42, meanwhile, will head to orbit, a destination that Starship reached for the first time on Flight 14, which took place on Sept.
- Don’t Panic April 8, 2025 The company has already caught Super Heavy on three previous Starship test flights.
The two stages of the Starship rocket that will conduct Flight 15 at their Starbase launch pad on Nov.
This mission will serve as Electron’s 100th overall mission—a notable milestone for the small rocket that first flew in 2017, NASASpaceflight.com reports.
Additional details
- But that's just what SpaceX is going to try to do with a Starship launch on Friday, and an upper stage landing attempt 22.5 hours later on Saturday afternoon, local time.
- Bringing both Starship stages directly back to the launch mount will greatly reduce the time needed for inspection, refurbishment and reflight, according to SpaceX.
- Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.
- The double catch attempt may be unprecedented, but SpaceX seems to be taking its own advice: There's no panic around Flight 15 or its bold goals.
- 12), SpaceX rolled the Flight 15 upper stage, a vehicle known as Ship 42, out to the launch pad at its Starbase site in South Texas to prep.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
Advertisement
Every article behind this summary — 2 articles from 2 outlets
Get stories like this in your inbox.
Subscribe — it's freeOne free email at 6am — your topics, deduplicated, five minutes. No account, no paywall.