SpaceX Lands 171-Foot Starship After 22-Hour Orbital Flight, a First for Any Rocket Upper Stage
Updated
Updated · CNN · Nov 13
SpaceX Lands 171-Foot Starship After 22-Hour Orbital Flight, a First for Any Rocket Upper Stage
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Nov 13
Summary
SpaceX brought its 171-foot Starship spacecraft back to an upright landing at the Mechazilla tower in South Texas after 22 hours in orbit, marking the first controlled return of an orbital rocket’s upper stage.
The vehicle completed 14 laps of Earth, deployed Starlink satellites, then survived reentry from more than 17,000 mph before guiding itself with four flaps into the tower’s catching arms.
The feat is central to SpaceX’s push to fully reuse Starship hardware, unlike most rockets that discard upper stages as debris or let them burn up in the atmosphere.
The same mission fell short on the first stage: the Super Heavy booster aborted its tower catch after an engine issue and was redirected to a Gulf splashdown, where its flight termination system triggered.
How will SpaceX's historic Starship landing reshape the future of space travel despite the explosive booster failure?
Will environmental controversies and airspace closures in Texas ultimately ground SpaceX's ambitious plans for fully reusable rockets?
What hidden costs does the local coastal ecosystem pay for humanity's giant leap toward routine lunar exploration?
Starship Flight 15 Report: Orbital Catch Milestone, Booster Failure, and the Future of Reusable Spaceflight
Overview
SpaceX’s Starship Flight 15 on November 13, 2026, marked a major step forward and revealed key challenges. After launch, a Raptor engine shutdown left the Super Heavy booster low on fuel, forcing mission controllers to abort the planned tower catch and divert it for a controlled splashdown, where it was lost. Meanwhile, the upper stage reached orbit, deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, and returned for a historic catch by the Mechazilla tower, validating orbital second-stage reusability. This innovation, eliminating landing legs for ground-based catching, saves mass and boosts payload capacity, while also reducing turnaround time and supporting NASA’s Artemis lunar ambitions.