SpaceX is targeting weekly Starship launches during the first half of 2027, with plans to double that frequency in the second half of the year. CEO Elon Musk outlined the timetable during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on 20 October, identifying rapid and complete vehicle reusability as the principal requirement. The target follows Starship’s 14th flight on 28 September, when the vehicle reached orbit for the first time and deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites. Although the flight demonstrated orbital insertion and payload deployment, engine problems contributed to a shorter mission than originally planned. Both the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage returned to controlled ocean splashdowns rather than being recovered for reuse, as detailed in SpaceX’s flight report . Next flight to attempt recovery of both stages SpaceX’s 15th Starship flight, provisionally scheduled for November 2026, will attempt to return both stages to the company’s Starbase launch facility in southern Texas. The plan calls for the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage to be caught by mechanical arms mounted on the launch towers. Musk believes the chances of success are better than 50%, although he acknowledged that the first attempt might fail. Catching both stages would demonstrate a major part of the recovery system, but would not establish that the vehicles can be refurbished and flown again within a short turnaround period. SpaceX president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said the company expects the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to authorise both tower catches for Flight 15. The upper stage’s return trajectory presents an additional regulatory challenge because it involves flying over northern Mexico before approaching Starbase. Shotwell also outlined plans to refly a Starship upper stage early in 2027. SpaceX intends to reduce the inspection and refurbishment required between flights, eventually allowing vehicles to be relaunched with minimal intervention. FAA approval for weekly Starship launches Increasing the launch frequency will also require regulatory approval. The FAA is reviewing a proposal to expand operations at Starbase from the currently assessed maximum of 25 launches annually. The proposed expansion has two phases. The first would permit up to 100 launches and 200 landings each year, while the second would increase those limits to 456 launches and 912 landings. These figures represent requested operating limits rather than authorised launch frequencies. Public consultation meetings are scheduled for November. The proposed weekly Starship launches would support the deployment of SpaceX’s own satellite systems. These include next-generation Starlink communications satellites and spacecraft for its planned Starmind orbital data-centre network. Shotwell said the company expects to begin launching Starlink Mobile V2 and Starmind satellites in 2027. Orbital refuelling remains another hurdle SpaceX is also planning an orbital propellant-transfer demonstration early in 2027. The test would involve transferring cryogenic propellants between Starship vehicles, providing engineering data on transfer efficiency, thermal management and propellant losses in orbit. Such transfers are essential to NASA’s planned lunar missions, which require Starship’s Human Landing System variant to be refuelled in Earth orbit before travelling to the Moon. As previously reported by eeNews Europe in its coverage of NASA’s Moon-base plans , the Starship lander remains a critical element of the agency’s lunar programme. SpaceX’s timetable therefore depends on several developments progressing together: reliable recovery of both stages, successful upper-stage reuse, improved launch infrastructure and regulatory authorisation. The company has completed 14 integrated Starship flight tests, but has yet to demonstrate the repeatable operations needed to maintain the proposed launch frequency. The post SpaceX targets weekly St