SpaceX caught a Starship upper stage with the arms of its launch tower at Starbase, Texas, on November 14, 2026, the first time a Starship returning from orbit has been captured at its launch site. The Super Heavy booster that launched it on November 13 did not come back: it was destroyed over the Gulf of Mexico, so the planned double catch fell short.

The Associated Press reported that the spacecraft was caught 22 hours after it left the same site, while Aviation Week reported that the flight test lasted 22.5 hours and ended with the first launch tower catch of the reusable orbital vehicle. On its Flight 15 mission page, SpaceX had said a catch of both stages would mark the “first full recovery of an orbital launch system.” With the booster lost, that milestone is still to come.

How the ship’s flight unfolded

The 407-foot (124-meter) vehicle lifted off late in the afternoon of Friday, November 13, from SpaceX’s Starship base near the U.S.-Mexican border, according to AP. SpaceX’s mission page had listed a 75-minute launch window opening at 4:45 p.m. Central Time (22:45 UTC) that day, pending regulatory approval.

After separating from the booster, the upper stage reached orbit and released 26 advanced Starlink satellites, AP reported. It then circled Earth 14 times at 165 miles (265 kilometers), streaming live views of itself and the planet through Starlink. SpaceX’s plan had called for an altitude of about 275 km and approximately 14 orbits over a flight of more than 22 hours. By AP’s count, the previous mission made one to two laps.

SpaceX reported that everything on the spacecraft, including its heat shield, appeared to work well, according to AP. Before the flight, the company said the ship would return to the launch site only if the flight control team confirmed that the systems critical for reentry maneuvers, the final landing burn and the tower approach were healthy. Three of the Starlink satellites were modified with cameras to scan the heat shield and send imagery to operators, one of several data sources for that decision.

The ship’s published timeline ended with the landing burn, a landing flip and the catch, at about 22 hours and 32 minutes after liftoff. SpaceX commentator Dan Huot greeted the capture with “Can you believe it?” according to AP, and Aviation Week quoted him saying, “That was the missing link, the holy grail of spaceflight.” SpaceX officials said the catch demonstrates the full reusability of Starship, AP reported.

What happened to the Super Heavy booster

The booster’s objectives on Flight 15 were a launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn and return to the launch site for a catch, according to SpaceX. It was the first return and catch attempt for a Super Heavy V3 booster, and the published timeline placed its landing burn and catch at about six minutes and 35 seconds after liftoff.

According to AP, SpaceX’s Kate Tice said the booster’s engines stopped firing too soon on the way back down. The booster’s guidance system sensed that it was not in the right position and automatically started a diversion to the water and its self-destruction, AP reported. Wreckage remained in the Gulf of Mexico, marked off by buoys. Engineers are still investigating the cause.

Before the flight, SpaceX noted that three V1 boosters had been caught on earlier flight tests and that two of them had flown again. AP also put the number of previous booster catches at three.

What the flight means for Starlink and Artemis

The Starlink V3 satellites are meant to expand the network’s capacity and user speeds. SpaceX says each one adds 1 terabit of capacity to the constellation and that the 26 satellites on Flight 15 equal about 10 Starlink V2 Mini launches on Falcon 9. After deployment and on-orbit checkout, the satellites should begin serving customers as soon as a few weeks after launch, according to the company.

Flight 15 was SpaceX’s 15th flight of a full-scale Starship since 2023 and only its second trip to orbit, AP reported. It followed Starship’s first orbital mission on Flight 14, which SpaceX says sent Starship to orbit and deployed meaningful payloads for the first time. SpaceX said the heat shield on this ship would incorporate the improvements made on Flight 14, including additional tile retention mechanisms and a curved tile design across a large portion of the shield.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is paying billions of dollars for Starship to land Artemis astronauts on the Moon later this decade and to help build a permanent lunar base, AP reported. SpaceX expects to begin launching Starships from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center within a few months, and Kennedy is the starting point for NASA’s next Artemis mission, according to AP.

Under NASA’s current Artemis plan, the four Artemis III astronauts will stay in Earth orbit and attempt to dock their capsule with both Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon. SpaceX and Blue Origin will take turns delivering crews to the lunar surface. NASA is targeting as soon as 2028 for Artemis IV, the first Moon landing since the Apollo era, AP reported.

AirPro News analysis

For readers tracking Starship’s reusability, we see the ship catch as the new data point from Flight 15. Booster catches had already been done three times with V1 hardware, according to SpaceX, while no Starship upper stage had been caught after returning from orbit before this flight, according to AP and Aviation Week.

The open question is the V3 booster. SpaceX said a double catch on this flight would mark the first full recovery of an orbital launch system. Until a V3 booster completes its return and catch, that goal remains open, and so does the “rapidly reusable rocket” the company describes.

NASA is accepting applications for its next class of astronaut candidates until 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, December 3, 2026, and its requirements give pilots a route in through flight time, starting at 750 hours as pilot-in-command in high-performance jet aircraft.

In a news release dated November 7, 2026, NASA said the new class will join as America returns to the Moon, builds the Moon Base and prepares for the first crewed Mars missions. The agency expects to make its final selection in late 2027, when training of the next astronaut candidates would begin.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in the release: “This is an extraordinary time to join NASA’s astronaut corps.” He said selectees could walk on the Moon, work at the Moon Base and help pioneer systems for Mars. Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson added: “The window is open. The mission is waiting.”

What NASA asks of applicants

The basic requirements are U.S. citizenship and a master’s degree in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) field, such as engineering, biological science, physical science or computer science, from an accredited institution. NASA lists other ways to meet the degree requirement: at least two years of doctoral work in those fields or in mathematics, or a Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Physician Assistant, Doctor of Nursing Practice, Family Nurse Practitioner or related medical degree.

Test pilots have their own path. Completion of, or current enrollment in, a nationally recognized Test Pilot School program also counts, provided it is completed by July 2027. Applicants whose only advanced qualification is Test Pilot School also need a STEM bachelor’s degree.

Flight hours and experience

Applicants need at least three years of related professional experience after the qualifying degree. NASA lists pilot experience as the alternative, with three thresholds depending on the aircraft flown:

• High-performance jet aircraft: 750 hours as pilot-in-command.
• Other fixed-wing aircraft: 1,500 total flight hours, including 750 as pilot-in-command.
• Rotary-wing aircraft: 1,000 total flight hours, including 300 as pilot-in-command.

Medical doctors may count residency training toward experience if it is completed by July 2027. All candidates must pass NASA’s long-duration astronaut flight physical and demonstrate strong leadership, teamwork and communication skills. Those selected will study spacewalking, lunar geology and high-performance aircraft operations, among other subjects.

The 2025 class and the pilots in it

NASA last opened applications in 2024, with a window that ran from March 5 to April 16, 2024, according to the agency’s astronaut selection timeline. It received more than 8,000 applications. On September 22, 2025, NASA introduced the 10 members of its 2025 class, the agency’s 24th astronaut class, at Johnson Space Center in Houston. They are completing nearly two years of training before becoming eligible for flight assignments to low Earth orbit, the Moon and Mars.

Flight test backgrounds run through that class. Katherine Spies, a former Marine Corps AH-1 attack helicopter pilot and experimental test pilot with more than 2,000 flight hours, was director of flight test engineering at Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation when she was selected. Rebecca Lawler, a former Navy P-3 pilot and experimental test pilot with more than 2,800 flight hours, was a test pilot for United Airlines.

The military aviators in the class include U.S. Air Force Maj. Adam Fuhrmann, with more than 2,100 flight hours in 27 aircraft including the F-16 and F-35, and Maj. Cameron Jones, with more than 1,600 flight hours, mostly in the F-22 Raptor. U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Erin Overcash, a U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet pilot, has 249 carrier arrested landings. U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Ben Bailey, also a Naval Test Pilot School graduate, was doing developmental testing on UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47F Chinook helicopters at the time of selection.

The 2025 class training plan, as NASA described it, covers International Space Station operations, Artemis missions, robotics, land and water survival, geology, simulated spacewalks and high-performance jet flying. Since the 1960s, NASA has selected 370 people as astronaut candidates, and the agency has 32 active astronauts, according to the November 7 release.

What comes next for applicants

NASA’s astronaut selection timeline, which the agency labels tentative, sets application review from December 2026 to April 2027. Initial interviewees would visit Johnson Space Center in spring 2027 for interviews and selection assessments, and final interviewees in summer 2027. The Astronaut Candidate Class of 2027 would be announced in fall 2027 and report to Johnson in winter 2027/2028. NASA says the schedule may change and could be extended or accelerated based on the number of applicants.

The release ties the new class to lunar surface work. NASA said it will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions near the lunar South Pole, and that Artemis is expected to establish an enduring human presence on the Moon and build toward the first crewed Mars mission. AirPro News has covered NASA’s updated Moon Base strategy and the restructured Artemis program.

Scott Tingle, chief astronaut and chair of the Astronaut Selection Board at Johnson Space Center, said becoming an astronaut is “more than a career opportunity.” He said the next candidates “could help write history while inspiring future scientists, engineers, and explorers.”

The U.S. Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) has signed a $150 million conditional loan commitment with Rocket Lab to help raise the flight rate of its reusable Neutron rocket. The commitment, announced on November 9, 2026, follows a $150 million conditional commitment to Stoke Space Technologies on October 26, 2026, for a second launchpad at Cape Canaveral.

In its November 9 press release, the department said the Rocket Lab loan is intended to support a national security priority: scaling U.S. space launch capabilities and supporting economic resiliency. Neither commitment is final. Both companies must complete further financial, legal, technical, investment and due diligence steps before financial close, according to the two releases.

What the Rocket Lab loan would pay for

The commitment is with Rocket Lab USA, Inc., the principal operating subsidiary of Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ: RKLB). The department said the loan would support Rocket Lab’s efforts to increase Neutron’s flight rate beyond first launch to meet commercial and national security demand for access to space.

The release sets out what the money would support. The proposed loan would support faster vehicle delivery and processing, and allow Rocket Lab to expand its fleet of maritime vessels with additional equipment for Neutron recovery and transport. It would also fund manufacturing upgrades to increase production of composite structures and engines, and infrastructure that would reduce turnaround time between launches once the reusable rocket makes its operational debut.

The department describes Neutron as a reusable launch vehicle designed to deliver payloads of approximately 13,000 kg to Low Earth Orbit, built for constellation deployment, national security payloads and future interplanetary missions. It said Neutron would give the U.S. government a new medium-lift launch platform.

Peter F. Anderson, Senior Vice President (Investments) at OSC, said the commitment “would enable Rocket Lab to create more launch opportunities for commercial and government customers using its Neutron rocket.” He added that it would strengthen U.S. launch capacity “with a repeatable and reliable new space launch platform.”

The earlier Stoke Space commitment

The October 26 commitment with Stoke Space, a U.S.-based company developing fully reusable rockets, would support construction of a second launchpad at its existing launch complex at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The department said the OSC loan would sit alongside private capital. Stoke has also raised private funding, including a $1 billion Series E round.

Jordan Sebold, Senior Managing Director (Investments) at OSC, said Stoke’s existing launch complex supports its Nova Pathfinder medium-lift rocket, while the new launchpad would support the systems and facilities required for the larger Nova Block 2 rocket, which is in development. He said the added infrastructure would enhance the capacity and resilience of the commercial space industrial base.

David A. Lorch, Director of the Office of Strategic Capital and Senior Advisor to Deputy Secretary of War Steve Feinberg, said the Stoke commitment aligns with President Donald J. Trump’s National Space Transportation Policy, “which calls for expanded U.S. launch infrastructure.” The release states that space launch is a designated critical technology category.

Conditions before any money moves

Both releases use the same structure: a conditional commitment, followed by financial, legal, technical, investment, due diligence and other requirements the company must meet before financial close. Neither release gives an interest rate, a loan term or a target date for closing.

Emil Michael, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering, was quoted in both announcements. “I applaud the Office of Strategic Capital for investing in critical space launch capabilities,” he said of the Rocket Lab commitment, adding that the transaction supports a domestic launch network needed for national security. On Stoke, he said fulfilling President Trump’s mandate for American space superiority “requires scaling commercial launch capacity for our warriors at the Space Force.”

For Rocket Lab, the release ties the money to the period after Neutron’s first launch: the funded infrastructure is meant to shorten turnaround once the rocket makes its operational debut. For Stoke, it is tied to a new pad for a rocket still in development. In both cases, the next milestone the department names is financial close.