SpaceX has announced the sixth Starship launch and landing catch test (IFT-6)date. According to Elon Musk’s spaceflight company, Starship Flight 6 test will commence on Monday 18th November with backup launch windows.
Interestingly, this time, SpaceX did not mention the delays in regulatory approval by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In our last Starship update, we reported that the leaked Elon Musk SpaceX meeting audio suggest that Flight 6 is not FAA license constrained.
Since the license is already granted to conduct the Starship IFT-6 — SpaceX announced the date for the launch and landing test. SpaceX announced the date on X and with a blog post on its official website explaining the objectives and possible outcomes of the Starship Flight 6 test.
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Starship’s fifth flight test was a seminal moment in iterating towards a fully and rapidly reusable launch system.
SpaceX outlined the Flight 6 Starship launch and landing test in its official update of the event. It’s exciting to know that SpaceX will try to catch the Super Heavy rocket booster (Booster 13) the same way it caught the Flight 5 booster (Booster 12).
Since all of these Starship flights are a giant and long-term test project. Each flight provides SpaceX teams data and experience that is used to improve the next flight test.
Starting with Starship Flight 5, a booster landing catch by the launch tower Chopsticks is added to the objectives of future flights. SpaceX will attempt to catch the Flight 6 booster as well but if all the safety measures are met and the possibility of the catch is almost 100%.
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The moment when Starship Flight 5 lifted-off the Starbase Orbital Launch Mount (OLM). 2nd launch tower (front), Mechazilla launch tower (rear). Credit: SpaceX via X (Twitter).
According to SpaceX, the launch tower and Chopstick arms used to catch the Flight 5 booster are improved further to perform the Flight 6 catch even better. The leaked audio of SpaceX engineers suggests Flight 5 booster was a second away from disaster at landing catch.
Therefore, SpaceX has made necessary safety improvements for the Flight 6 launch and landing-catch test. SpaceX wrote in its blog post:
The success of the first catch attempt demonstrated the design feasibility while providing valuable data to continue improving hardware and software performance. Hardware upgrades for this flight add additional redundancy to booster propulsion systems, increase structural strength at key areas, and shorten the timeline to offload propellants from the booster following a successful catch. Mission designers also updated software controls and commit criteria for the booster’s launch and return.
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Analogous to the fifth flight test, distinct vehicle and pad criteria must be met prior to a return and catch of the Super Heavy booster, which will require healthy systems on the booster and tower and a final manual command from the mission’s Flight Director. If this command is not sent prior to the completion of the boostback burn, or if automated health checks show unacceptable conditions with Super Heavy or the tower, the booster will default to a trajectory that takes it to a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. We accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public and our team, and the return will only take place if conditions are right.
Starship’s upper stage will fly the same suborbital trajectory as the previous flight test, with splashdown targeted in the Indian Ocean. An additional objective for this flight will be attempting an in-space burn using a single Raptor engine, further demonstrating the capabilities required to conduct a ship deorbit burn prior to orbital missions.
Starship Flight 6 Trajectory
The upper/2nd stage Flight 6 Ship 31 is set to make a splashdown landing in the Indian Ocean like its predecessor.
SpaceX will attempt to make a similar landing catch of the 1st stage Flight 6 Super Heavy booster like Flight 5. However, if it does not meet all the safety measures of the landing-catch, SpaceX will land it in the Gulf of Mexico.
SpaceX published the following infographic of the Starship Flight 6 (IFT-6) trajectory:
Starship Flight 6 trajectory infographic showing paths for both the 1st stage Super Heavy Booster 13 and upper stage Ship 31. Credit: SpaceX.
Stay tuned as we will be covering live updates of the Starship Flight 6 test and the developments in between.
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 launch and landing test date. Know the IFT-6 objectives and the trajectory of both Super Heavy and Ship 31, more.){kind=link}