SpaceX working through Starship Flight 15 and 16 milestones

Date:
Sun, 18 Oct 2026 16:31:04 +0000

Description:
SpaceX is advancing toward its next two Starship missions as the company
looks to close The post SpaceX working through Starship Flight 15 and 16 milestones appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

FULL STORY ======================================================================

SpaceX is advancing toward its next two Starship missions as the company
looks to close out 2026. Flight 15 is targeting November, with the goal of catching both the booster and the Ship. Flight 16 is currently aimed for December and could become the first Starship launch from Launch Complex 39A.

The resulting cadence would produce only five Starship launches in 2026, highly related to the transition between Block 2 and Block 3 vehicles, as SpaceX continues to project hundreds of launches per year from Starbase alone in the longer term.



Flight 15

SpaceXs next mission is aiming for November. According to the latest CADENA slide update, the current No Earlier Than (NET) date is November 8.

Meeting that timeline requires both the booster and Ship to complete a major pre-launch milestone: a static fire test. Ship 42 returns to Masseys via Colleen Liedtke for NSF

Ship 42 was nearing its trip to Masseys for that test when its engines were removed. The vehicle instead made a short additional trip to the test site
for a cryoproof.

The engine removal may be connected to the Raptor Vacuum (RVac) shutdown observed during Flight 14.

Elon Musk recently addressed the issue, describing it as a software failure isolated to the engine computer on that specific unit.

See Also SpaceX Starship Program L2 SpaceX Section NSF Store Click here to Join L2

In an interview, he said the problem did not appear on any of the other engines and called it a glitch that is not a major concern and should be straightforward to resolve.

Because the sea-level Raptors did not show the same software problem, SpaceX remained confident those engines would perform as expected and proceeded with the orbital attempt.

This points away from a broader engine hardware issue, though it does not fully explain why the engines were later removed from Ship 42.

Musk also discussed the volume of changes between flights, noting that the number can range from hundreds to thousands, consistent with figures previously cited by the company. He indicated that the current campaign involves fewer modifications than some earlier ones, although certain updates still require substantial work.

Those changes may help explain the engine removals. Modifications inside Ship 42 could have required an additional cryogenic proof test, which in turn
meant pulling the engines. SpaceX may also have wanted to validate software updates on the engines at its McGregor facility, although no such testing has been publicly observed there yet.

Booster 22 is believed to have all of its engines installed and is awaiting transport to Pad 2 for its own pre-launch static fire. Source information indicates the move could occur within days, with road closure notices
expected to provide the first public confirmation. Booster 22 at Masseys, via Ceaser G for NSF

Musk has said Flight 15 is targeted for launch within the next four to six weeks, before Thanksgiving. That aligns with an early-to-mid November window.

He confirmed that SpaceX intends to attempt catches of both the Super Heavy booster and the Ship. A successful dual catch would mark the first full recovery attempt of a Starship vehicle and open the door to subsequent milestones, including the first reflights of a properly recovered Ship.

Flight 16

Current activity points to Booster 23 and Ship 43 as the likely vehicles for Flight 16. Both are well into preparations.

Ship 43 is currently inside Mega Bay 2 and was seen welcoming Ship 40 back to Starbase after its return from an ocean landing half a world away. The view showed Ship 40 entering the facility to be greeted by three Ships in total: Ships 42, 43, and 44. SpaceX photo inside MB2.

Booster 23 has already begun pre-launch testing with a trip to Masseys for cryoproofing.

The testing concluded over the weekend with a Sunday morning trip back to
Mega Bay 1 for engine installation. It may be hot in South Texas but Starship Booster 23 was nice as frosty over at Massey's, as it underwent an extended cryo test over the course of 12 hours yesterday, as part of its pre-launch testing campaign. @NASASpaceflight | https://t.co/1bbXAEmS9g pic.twitter.com/81CohSc5ZW

Elisar Priel (@ENNEPS) October 16, 2026



Although Musk suggested that the next flight could involve the vehicles
caught on Flight 15, Flight 16 is more likely to proceed without waiting for the full series of post-catch checks on those vehicles.

This is particularly relevant if the mission is intended to serve as the
first Starship launch from the East Coast.

Source information currently links Flight 16 to the goal of bringing Launch Complex 39A online before the end of the year, and the December target is consistent with that objective. Plans remain subject to change depending on the outcome of Flight 15 and SpaceXs operational priorities.

Both vehicles would need to be shipped individually to Kennedy Space Center aboard Youll Thank Me Later, the transport barge that is now in full operation. It most recently delivered a Ship transport stand and the Starlink loader from Starbase to KSC. The Starlink Loader: https://t.co/VfXVaZ0P4T pic.twitter.com/bz6PDcdXHu

NSF NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) October 15, 2026



The transport would see both vehicles arrive, individually, up the Banana River into the KSC turn basin, following the same route previously used by Space Shuttle External Tanks and SLS Core Stages aboard NASAs barge Pegasus.

Once offloaded, they would be rolled to SpaceXs Roberts Road facility, where the new Gigabay is expected to have two bays available for checks before the vehicles are moved to 39A for testing.

At the pad, the booster would undergo a series of propellant loading tests to confirm that 39As Starship infrastructure is ready to support its first launch, culminating in a static fire. The Ship, having already been static-fired at Masseys, would then join for integrated vehicle testing. A significant amount of first-time work at 39A still needs to be completed successfully for a launch before the end of the year. If the campaign
proceeds as currently planned, Starship would conduct its first East Coast launch.

Production and launch site expansion

Beyond the next two flights, SpaceX continues to expand production capacity and launch infrastructure. Pads 37A and 37B will add two sites at the Cape, while Pad 1 at Starbase is being renovated to match Pad 2. A potential Louisiana Starbase could later add more than 10 pads.

The higher flight rates SpaceX has outlined appear in regulatory filings as well as public statements. The FAA has begun a programmatic environmental impact statement that could eventually allow up to 456 Starship launches and 912 vehicle landings per year from Starbase, far above the current authorization of 25 launches and 50 landings annually. A programmatic review covers a broad set of proposed operations rather than a single action. The filing coincides with construction of the Gigabay at Starbase, a large production facility intended to raise the rate at which Ships and Super Heavy boosters can be built and processed.

Higher production is widely viewed as necessary before the program can move beyond the multi-month gaps seen so far.

The proposed increase is structured in two phases.

Phase 1 would raise the annual launch limit from 25 to 100 and allow up to
200 combined Ship and booster landings. It would also remove current time-of-day restrictions.

Under the existing authorization, most launches occur in daylight, and only a small number (recently three) are permitted at night. Phase 1 would allow launches at any hour and on any day of the week, including weekends.

Phase 2 would increase the ceiling from 100 launches per year to as many as 456, supporting up to 912 combined landings at Starbase. The FAA and SpaceX describe it as something that would be implemented within several years as
the vehicle and operations mature. Even Phase 1 is not expected for at least
a year because of the time required for environmental analysis and related adjustments.

Phase 2 would add one restriction absent from Phase 1: no weekend launches. The 912-landing cap at Starbase would apply even if a vehicle launched from another site, such as Florida or a potential Louisiana complex. That language leaves open the possibility of Starbase receiving vehicles launched
elsewhere, whether for point-to-point concepts or for catching a Starlink
Ship in Texas.

At the Phase 2 rate, Starbase would average between one and two launches per day. That would exceed the fastest single-pad turnaround SpaceX has demonstrated with Falcon 9 (two missions from SLC-40 45 hours apart) and
would mark a sharp departure from Starbases flight history, which has not approached the current 25-launch annual ceiling in any calendar year.

The proposal also includes operational details alongside the higher cadence. SpaceX is not locking itself to fixed ocean landing zones if it chooses to splash down rather than catch.

Vehicles would either land at the launch site, perform a soft splashdown in the Gulf or the open ocean, or be expended in the open ocean. The description appears to rule out expending vehicles in the Gulf while still allowing soft landings or disposal farther offshore. Specific locations would still require approval on a mission-by-mission basis. Launch azimuths from Starbase would range from 40 to 115 degrees. Vehicles returning to land at the site would need to remain inside those same limits.

None of these elements has been approved. The document is an early, provisional statement of intent. Over the coming weeks the FAA will hold public meetings and accept comments as part of the scoping process, followed by a Draft PEIS with detailed environmental analysis. After further review, the Final PEIS and Record of Decision will set the agencys official position.

The review remains at the start of a multi-stage process that will determine whether, and under what conditions, Starbase can move from its present limit of roughly two launches per month toward the higher rates SpaceX has
projected for the operational Starship system.

Featured Image: Ship 40 on Forte, with Starbase in the background (Credit: Jerry Pike for NSF)



The post SpaceX working through Starship Flight 15 and 16 milestones appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



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Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/10/spacex-flight-15-16-milestones/


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