SpaceX's Starship Megarocket Smiles For The Camera Ahead Of Test Flight
The spectacular first catch of SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster rocket occurred last month at Starbase in Texas. The company remarked before the fifth test flight that it had made extensive upgrades to hardware and software across the Super Heavy, Starship, and the launch and catch tower infrastructure. That test flight also saw Starship demonstrate several improvements, which resulted in a controlled entry and high accuracy splashdown at the targeted area in the Indian Ocean.
With all the success of the fifth test flight under its belt, SpaceX is preparing for its next blast off. According to SpaceX, the sixth test flight “aims to expand the envelope on ship and booster capabilities and get closer to bringing reuse of the entire system online.”
Other objectives include the booster once again being caught by the chopstick arms of Mechzilla, reigniting a ship Raptor engine while in space, along with testing a suite of heatshield experiments and maneuvering changes for Starship reentry and descent of the Indian Ocean.
While a second catch attempt is planned, SpaceX does make it clear that it is not a given. There are vehicle and pad criteria that must be met prior to a return and catch, which will require all systems to remain healthy on both the booster and tower, and a final manual command from the mission’s Flight Director. If the command is not sent for some reason before the completion of the boostback burn, or if automated health checks are unacceptable, the booster will default to a trajectory that will take it to a landing burn and splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
Onlookers, and those nearby, can once again expect to hear sonic booms as the returning booster slows down from supersonic speeds. SpaceX remarked, “Generally, the only impact to those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief thunder-like noise with variables like weather and distance from the return site determining the magnitude experienced by observers.”
The Musk owned company added that Starship's upper stage will fly the same suborbital trajectory as the fifth test flight, with splashdown once again targeted in the Indian Ocean. An added objective for this test flight will be attempting an in-space burn using a single Raptor engine, hoping to further demonstrate the capabilities required to conduct a ship deorbit burn prior to orbital missions.
The sixth test flight is scheduled for Tuesday, November 19, 2024, with a 30-minute launch window opening at 4pm CT.
