STARBASE, Texas — SpaceX launched the 15th test flight of its massive Starship rocket today (Nov. 13) and is preparing the vehicle's upper stage for its first-ever return to the launch site in less than 24 hours.

Flight 15 lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase facility here in South Texas at 5:47 p.m. ET (2247 GMT; 4:47 p.m. local Texas time). The towering Super Heavy booster and Ship upper stage cleared the tower without incident and climbed into the skies under more than 18 million pounds of thrust from the booster's 33 Raptor 3 engines.

The flight continued nominally through its initial ascent, with the successful execution of Super Heavy's main engine cutoff and Ship's subsequent hot-staging — firing its own Raptors during separation from the booster — about 2.5 minutes after launch. Following stage separation, Super Heavy reoriented for a planned return to Starbase as Ship powered its way toward low Earth orbit (LEO).