{"id":"1794673995255-tech-segment","slug":"starship-s-orbital-catch-attempt-today","title":"Starship's orbital catch attempt today","summary":"SpaceX launched Starship Flight 15 from Starbase, Texas, on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, at 4:47 p.m. CST. The Super Heavy booster, Booster 22, was supposed to return to the launch pad for a catch, but its guidance, navigation, and control system triggered an automated abort after detecting the booster was not in the correct position. The booster diverted to an offshore splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, where it exploded and partially sank. The upper stage, Ship 42, successfully reached orbit and deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites. It is now coasting in orbit for up to 14 orbits, with a planned return to the launch site for a first-ever catch of an orbital Starship upper stage on Saturday, Nov. 14, around 3:20 p.m. CST.\n\nThe mission is a major step toward full reusability. SpaceX has already caught Super Heavy boosters three times, but catching the Ship upper stage after orbital reentry is far harder because it falls faster, from higher altitude, and must survive extreme heating. A successful catch would drastically reduce launch costs and enable frequent flights. The booster abort shows the safety system working as designed: it refused to attempt a catch when the booster was out of position.\n\nStarship Flight 15's upper stage, Ship 42, is in orbit after launching Nov. 13, deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, and is on track for a return-to-launch-site catch attempt at Starbase on Nov. 14. SpaceX says pad and tower systems are go for catch.","publishedAt":"2026-11-14T16:33:15.255Z","channel":{"id":"tech","name":"Oncast Tech","language":"en"},"show":"The Build","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: Starship Flight 15's upper stage, Ship 42, is in orbit after launching Nov. 13, deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, and is on track for a return-to-launch-site catch attempt at Starbase on Nov. 14. SpaceX says pad and tower systems are go for catch.\nSource: space.com / SpaceX NAMES: Starbase = SpaceX's launch and catch site in Boca Chica, Texas POST 2121627776881230121: NOCLAIM NAMES: none POST 2121628295234023654: (https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2121629656868614213)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Starship Flight 15's upper stage, Ship 42, is in orbit after launching Nov. 13, deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, and is on track for a return-to-launch-site catch attempt at Starbase on Nov. 14. SpaceX says pad and tower systems are go for catch.","sourceName":"space.com / SpaceX NAMES: Starbase = SpaceX's launch and catch site in Boca Chica, Texas POST 2121627776881230121: NOCLAIM NAMES: none POST 2121628295234023654:","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2121629656868614213","claim":"Flight 15 Update: Starship coasting in orbit, still looking good for return to launch site today. Pad and tower systems are go for catch. https://t.co/vMkjoZdxa6","author":"@SpaceX"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2121629656868614213","name":"space.com / SpaceX NAMES: Starbase = SpaceX's launch and catch site in Boca Chica, Texas POST 2121627776881230121: NOCLAIM NAMES: none POST 2121628295234023654:","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"@SpaceX"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1794673995255-tech-segment-starship-s-orbital-catch-attempt-today","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/tech","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1794673995255-tech-segment-starship-s-orbital-catch-attempt-today","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1794673995255-tech-segment-starship-s-orbital-catch-attempt-today and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Chris","text":"Starship is in orbit right now, and in a few hours they're going to try something nobody has ever done: catch the upper stage back at the launch tower."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Fourteen laps around Earth, then back to the exact tower it launched from. That's the plan?"},{"host":"Chris","text":"That's the plan. SpaceX posted the update about fifty minutes ago. Ship forty-two is coasting, pad and tower systems are go for catch."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And the booster? I saw it didn't make the catch yesterday."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Right. The booster's guidance system triggered an automated abort. It detected it wasn't in the right position, so it diverted to a splashdown in the Gulf."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Which is exactly what the safety system is supposed to do. It refused to attempt a catch when the booster was out of position."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Exactly. People are calling it a failure. I call it the system working. It exploded and partially sank, but it didn't hit the tower."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And the upper stage is the real prize here. They've caught boosters three times. Catching a ship coming back from orbit is a whole different beast."},{"host":"Chris","text":"It's falling faster, from higher altitude, and it has to survive reentry heating. If they pull this off, launch costs drop dramatically."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"One reply on X put it well: nobody has ever caught a ship coming home from orbit. Fingers crossed."},{"host":"Chris","text":"And the timing matters. It's going to pass over parts of Mexico and the U.S. before returning to Starbase. Safety is paramount."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"SpaceX's Kate Tice said the catch will only be attempted if the vehicle passes many system checks and decision gates."},{"host":"Chris","text":"So we're not going to see a repeat of the booster. If the ship isn't perfect, it's going in the water."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Which is the right call. But man, if they catch it... that's a moment."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Around 3:20 Central time today. We'll be watching."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Speaking of things that sound too good to be true..."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Oh, here we go."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Two ex-Goldman employees say they just raised a million dollars from Y Combinator and Afore to build an AI agent that trades for you."},{"host":"Chris","text":"An AI that plugs into your brokerage account, explains why your portfolio moved, suggests what to do next, and makes trades for you."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It's called Volaren. And I have to say, the pitch is... aggressive."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Wall Street's biggest advantage is now available to everyone. That's the tagline."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"I couldn't confirm the funding or the product. The posts are all over X, but there's no official word yet."},{"host":"Chris","text":"So it's a claim. Two guys, a million dollars, and an AI that trades for you. What could go wrong?"},{"host":"Matilda","text":"A lot. An AI that makes trades for you is a huge leap from an AI that explains your portfolio."},{"host":"Chris","text":"But that's the direction everything is going. If it works, it democratizes what hedge funds do."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"If it works. And if it doesn't, it's your money disappearing in real time."},{"host":"Chris","text":"That's the risk. But the same was said about robo-advisors, and those are now mainstream."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Robo-advisors rebalance your portfolio. They don't make discretionary trades based on AI predictions."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Fair point. But someone's going to build this. The question is whether Volaren is the one."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And whether they can actually deliver. A million dollars is a seed round. Building a trading agent that doesn't blow up accounts is hard."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Hard, but not impossible. And if they're ex-Goldman, they know the domain."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Knowing the domain and building a safe AI trader are two different things. I'll believe it when I see a live account."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Fair. But I'm watching this one. The idea is too big to ignore."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Different world entirely: robotics funding."},{"host":"Chris","text":"A founder on X claims robotics raised over fifty-five billion dollars in 2026."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And he lists the founders who just closed rounds. Skild AI, a one-point-four billion Series C in January. Sunday Robotics, a hundred sixty-five million dollar round."},{"host":"Chris","text":"I couldn't verify those numbers. But the trend is real. Robotics is hot."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"The interesting part is what he says next: these founders now have to deploy. Raising the money is the easy part."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Deploying robots in the real world is where companies die. The hardware is hard, the margins are thin, and the customers are demanding."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And fifty-five billion dollars means a lot of robots need to actually work. Not just demos."},{"host":"Chris","text":"That's the real test. We've seen a lot of robotics demos. We've seen fewer robots doing real jobs at scale."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And one more funding round that caught my eye: a marketplace for used fire trucks and heavy equipment."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Used fire trucks? That's a niche."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Garage is reported to have raised a forty-one million Series B led by Invus Opportunities, with Y Combinator and others participating."},{"host":"Chris","text":"I couldn't confirm the round. But a marketplace for used fire trucks is actually smart. Those things are expensive, and municipalities need to buy and sell them."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It's not glamorous, but it's a real market. Fire trucks cost hundreds of thousands of dollars."},{"host":"Chris","text":"And the used market is fragmented. A marketplace makes sense. But forty-one million? That's a lot for fire trucks."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Heavy equipment is a huge market. Fire trucks are just the entry point."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Fair. But I want to see the revenue before I believe the valuation."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And that's the show. Starship catch attempt this afternoon, an AI trading agent that may or may not exist, and a fire truck marketplace."},{"host":"Chris","text":"The future is weird and wonderful. We'll be back with more."}]}