Starship Flight 15: all 26 Starlink V3 satellites deployed and in contact

The deployment

Ship 42, named "Don't Panic", released its full batch of 26 Starlink V3 satellites in orbit during the morning of Saturday 14 November. The deployment began at approximately 05:25 Dhaka time, when the first satellite was released from the ship. The release of the remaining satellites followed over the next 44 minutes, and by approximately 06:09 Dhaka time SpaceX confirmed that all 26 satellites had been deployed and that all 26 were in contact.

The confirmation was reported in live coverage by Florida Today and NASASpaceFlight, both of which tracked the flight from liftoff through the orbital phase. The deployment is the central payload objective of Flight 15. The 26 satellites are the V3 generation of the Starlink constellation, and their release from Starship demonstrates the use of the vehicle as a deployment platform for the newest Starlink hardware.

The deployment was completed at approximately T+01:17:40 on the SpaceX mission clock, measured from liftoff. The confirmation of contact with all 26 satellites followed at approximately 06:09 Dhaka time, about 44 minutes after the first satellite was released. No problem with any individual satellite has been reported in the sources consulted for this article.

The flight so far

Starship Flight 15 lifted off from Starbase in Texas at 04:47 Dhaka time on Saturday 14 November 2026, corresponding to 22:47 UTC and 17:47 Eastern Time on Friday 13 November. The flight is the first of the Version 3, or V3, Starship system. Both stages flown on this mission are V3 vehicles: Super Heavy Booster 22 and Ship 42.

The Super Heavy booster did not return to the launch tower. The planned catch of the booster was waved off about seven minutes after liftoff, at approximately 04:54 Dhaka time, and Booster 22 splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. SpaceX has not disclosed a reason for the decision at the time of writing, and no cause should be inferred from the available reporting. The planned double catch, which would have been a first in the history of the programme, is no longer possible on this flight.

Ship 42 continued into orbit after separation and remains on course. The upper stage is coasting in orbit for approximately 22 hours before the next phase of the flight, the first-ever attempt to catch a Starship upper stage at the launch tower.

Ship 42 and the catch ahead

The tower-catch attempt for Ship 42 is due at approximately 03:17 Dhaka time on Sunday 15 November. The time is approximate, and the precise timing of the attempt will depend on the ship's orbital position and on the conditions at Starbase. If the attempt succeeds, it will be the first time a Starship upper stage has been recovered by the tower arms, rather than splashing down at sea or being expended.

The catch attempt is the most consequential part of this flight. The booster catch was first achieved on an earlier flight, and the ship catch is the next recovery milestone still to be demonstrated. The decision to wave off the booster catch shows that the flight team can choose not to attempt a recovery when the conditions are not right, and the preservation of the tower and the launch site is a precondition for the ship catch still to come.

Background

Starship is the largest launch vehicle ever flown, and the only one designed for the full recovery and reuse of both of its stages. The Super Heavy booster provides the thrust for the first part of the flight, then separates and returns to the launch site, where the tower arms catch it in mid-air. The Ship upper stage continues to orbit, and on recent flights has either splashed down in a controlled manner or, as planned on this flight, returned for a tower catch of its own.

The V3 generation flown on Flight 15 is the successor to the V2 vehicles used on earlier flights in 2026. The V3 vehicle is larger and more capable than its predecessor, and the Starlink V3 satellites it carries are the matching generation of the constellation. The pairing of a V3 ship with V3 satellites is the reason Flight 15 is the first operational test of the new system in its complete form.

Why it matters

The outcome of Flight 15 matters for three reasons. First, the deployment of all 26 Starlink V3 satellites, with contact confirmed on every one, is the first demonstration that Starship can deliver the newest generation of Starlink hardware to orbit in a single flight. The deployment of 26 satellites at once is a step toward the higher launch cadence that the constellation requires.

Second, the flight is the first of the V3 vehicle, and the performance of the new generation in ascent and in orbit will determine the pace at which the programme moves to regular V3 operations. A clean liftoff, a ship that reaches orbit and remains on course, and a complete satellite deployment are the minimum conditions for that transition, and all three have been met at the time of writing.

Third, the ship catch attempt on Sunday is the remaining test of the flight. If Ship 42 is caught, SpaceX will have demonstrated the full recovery of a Starship upper stage for the first time, and the recovery programme will have taken its largest single step forward.

What happens next

The next event in the flight is the scheduled tower-catch attempt for Ship 42, due at approximately 03:17 Dhaka time on Sunday 15 November. The outcome of that attempt will be the subject of further reporting. The reason for the booster catch abort may also be disclosed by SpaceX in later statements. The 26 Starlink V3 satellites will now proceed through their own commissioning phase, raising their orbits and entering service in the constellation.

Source: Florida Today live updates; NASASpaceFlight. The photograph accompanying this article is a frame from the SpaceX onboard webcast feed of Starship Flight 15, as re-streamed by Everyday Astronaut, showing Ship 42 in orbit after deployment, at mission time T+01:45:22. The deployment was completed at T+01:17:40, so the photograph shows the ship after the satellites had been released, not the deployment moment itself.