SpaceX Starship flight tries to catch both rocket stages, a test critical to Starlink

Key points

• SpaceX launched its 15th Starship test flight Friday, its first attempt to catch both the booster and upper stage.
• Starship can carry up to 60 Starlink v3 satellites, about 20 times Falcon 9, and the booster was diverted to the ocean.
• Analysts at William Blair said a delay of a few months would not be that consequential, while Starshield limits in Ukraine add fresh criticism.

SpaceX launched its 15th Starship test flight on Friday, Nov. 13, lifting off at 4:47 p.m. local time, or 5:47 p.m. ET, from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. It was the company's first attempt to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the upper stage spacecraft at its launch site.

The booster catch was abandoned, and the booster was instead diverted to splash into the ocean. The flight matters because Starship is central to SpaceX's plans to grow Starlink, which is currently the company's profit center, and to its longer-term goal of lifting cargo and people to the Moon and Mars.

In the near term, Starlink is the main driver. SpaceX planned to release a batch of new Starlink v3 satellites on this flight, after releasing 26 on the previous flight and planning another 26 on this one. The company has said one Starship can carry up to 60 of these satellites, about 20 times the capacity of earlier Falcon 9 rockets. Its constellation already includes over 11,000 active satellites in low Earth orbit.

Air traffic problems complicated the day. SpaceX obtained authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration earlier on Friday. Later that day, the FAA imposed a nationwide ground stop after it said communication failures had hit several air traffic control centers. An FAA spokesperson said the SpaceX license was not affected by the stoppage.

William Blair analysts wrote in a note out on Friday that "SpaceX is likely a full decade ahead of peers on this front" when it comes to launches. They said that even if the catch was unsuccessful, a delay of a few months would not be that consequential.

SpaceX also faces fresh criticism over restrictions on its Starshield satellite internet service in Ukraine. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week that his country's military forces had again experienced limits on Starshield without warning, harming their ability to defend against Russia's ongoing aerial attacks. Similar limits were temporarily imposed last month, and some U.S. senators have condemned the restrictions and urged Congress to investigate SpaceX.

Starship flight tests began in 2023. Starshield is the military-tier version of SpaceX's satellite internet service and is built on Starlink technology.

Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC, MarketWatch