TBC

Starship | Starlink Group 31-2 (Starship Flight 15)

Fri 13 Nov, 22:45 UTC

15th test flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle and 4th flight of Starship V3. Second Starship flight to deploy satellites (a group of Starlink satellites known as Starlink Group 31-2) into stable Low Earth Orbit and first ever to attempt returning the Starship 2nd stage back to the launch site. The ship is expected to fly at an altitude approximately 275 km above Earth and complete approximately 14 orbits around the planet for more than 22 hours, with the ship expected to attempt returning back to Starbase, Texas on its launch pad by pad arms catching. The booster’s primary test objective on Flight 15 will be executing a successful launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn, and landing by pad arms catching. This will also be the 1st Starship V3 booster to attempt returning to its launch site. Starship will deliver 26 Starlink V3 satellites to orbit for the second time, which aim to greatly expand the network's capacity and user speeds. Each Starlink V3 satellite will add 1 Tbps of capacity to the constellation. 3 of the satellites have been modified with a suite of cameras to scan Starship’s heatshield and transmit imagery down to operators.

Mission type: Communications · Orbit: Low Earth Orbit

Rocket: Starship · Provider: SpaceX

Timeline

Times are relative to liftoff (T 0:00) and follow the current launch time.

50 minutes before liftoff: GO for Prop Load Launch director verifies go for propellant load
35 minutes 33 seconds before liftoff: Stage 1 LOX Load Start of liquid oxygen loading in the first stage
35 minutes 30 seconds before liftoff: Stage 1 LNG Load Start of liquid methane loading in the first stage
35 minutes 12 seconds before liftoff: Stage 2 LOX Load Start of liquid oxygen loading in the second stage
35 minutes 11 seconds before liftoff: Stage 2 LNG Load Start of liquid methane loading in the second stage
21 minutes 40 seconds before liftoff: Engine Chill Start of engine chilling
2 minutes 50 seconds before liftoff: Stage 1 Propellant Load Complete End of propellant loading in the first stage
2 minutes 10 seconds before liftoff: Stage 2 Propellant Load Complete End of propellant loading in the second stage
30 seconds before liftoff: GO for Launch Launch director verifies go for launch
17 seconds before liftoff: Flame Deflector Activation Activation of the flame deflector ahead of engine ignition
3 seconds before liftoff: Ignition Start of the engine ignition sequence
at liftoff: Excitement Guaranteed Excitement guaranteed
at liftoff: Liftoff First upwards movement of the rocket
58 seconds after liftoff: Max-Q Maximum dynamic pressure
2 minutes 19 seconds after liftoff: MECO Cut-off of the main engine
2 minutes 21 seconds after liftoff: Stage 2 Separation Separation of the second stage from the first
2 minutes 26 seconds after liftoff: Booster Boostback Burn Startup Start of the booster boostback burn
3 minutes 2 seconds after liftoff: Booster Boostback Burn Shutdown End of the booster boostback burn
6 minutes 10 seconds after liftoff: Stage 1 Landing Burn Start of the first stage landing burn
6 minutes 35 seconds after liftoff: Stage 1 Landing Landing of the first stage
8 minutes 9 seconds after liftoff: SECO-1 First cut-off of the second engine
26 minutes 10 seconds after liftoff: Orbital Insertion Burn Start The spacecraft ignites it's engines to insert itself into orbit
26 minutes 30 seconds after liftoff: Orbital Insertion Burn End The spacecraft cuts its engines after inserting itself into orbit
35 minutes 1 second after liftoff: Payload Deployment Sequence Start Start of the payload deployment sequence
1 hour 17 minutes 40 seconds after liftoff: Payload Deployment Sequence End End of the payload deployment sequence.
1 hour 27 minutes 46 seconds after liftoff: Starship Return Check Check spacecraft health in case an early abort is needed
7 hours 15 minutes 35 seconds after liftoff: Starship Return Check Check spacecraft health in case an early abort is needed
20 hours 41 minutes 55 seconds after liftoff: Starship Return Check Check spacecraft health in case an early abort is needed
21 hours 35 minutes 57 seconds after liftoff: Deorbit Burn Start Start of the ship's deorbit burn
21 hours 36 minutes 7 seconds after liftoff: Deorbit Burn End End of the ship's deorbit burn
22 hours 10 minutes 46 seconds after liftoff: Atmospheric Entry Start of the atmospheric re-entry
22 hours 29 minutes 34 seconds after liftoff: Starship Transonic Starship passing through the transonic regime
22 hours 30 minutes 13 seconds after liftoff: Starship Subsonic Starship reaches a subsonic velocity
22 hours 32 minutes 16 seconds after liftoff: Starship Landing Burn Start of the Starship orbital stage landing burn
22 hours 32 minutes 18 seconds after liftoff: Landing Flip Flip maneuver to set the orientation for landing
22 hours 32 minutes 26 seconds after liftoff: Starship Landing Landing of the Starship orbital stage
22 hours 32 minutes 33 seconds after liftoff: Starship Landing Landing of the Starship orbital stage
22 hours 32 minutes 34 seconds after liftoff: Starship Catch Starship is caught by the tower