SpaceX Starship Reaches Orbit for Second Time in Flight 15

SpaceX’s Starship Flight 15 lifted off from Starbase, Texas, and its upper stage reached low Earth orbit for only the second time, beginning a planned extended flight of about 22 hours. The mission’s Super Heavy booster did not return for a tower catch: after stage separation, it was diverted to a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico and subsequently caught fire. Starship continued its orbital test and began deploying 26 Starlink satellites, while teams monitored the spacecraft ahead of a possible return and catch attempt. The planned recovery of both stages was intended to be a major test of SpaceX’s goal of making the heavy-lift rocket rapidly reusable, but the upper-stage catch remained conditional on vehicle health.