Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas — the preparations for the Starship Flight 6 (IFT-6) launch and landing-catch tests are in full swing at the SpaceX launch site.
On Friday, SpaceX rescheduled the Flight 6 test from Monday 18th to Tuesday 19th November. The commercial spaceflight company changed the date and time to attempt the IFT-6 test in daylight to gather more data.
As we approach the sixth Starship orbital launch and landing-catch test, there has been a lot going on at the Starbase launch site. SpaceX is performing final flight-readiness tests on the OLM, Mechazilla (launch tower) and its Chopsticks, the 1st-stage Booster 13, and the upper-stage Ship 31 spacecraft.
Let’s go throught the IFT-6 preparations and preflight tests one-by-one below.
Final Propellant Load Test
In an official post on X (Twitter) yesterday, SpaceX confirmed that the final preflight checks had been completed on the Flight 6 Starshipo which was fully stacked a day before these checks.
Yesterday, SpaceX performed a propellant load test ahead of the IFT-6 launch. This test is used to check the integrity of the booster and spaceship’s structural and component integrity by filling it with the real propellant. Starship uses liquid oxygen + methane as propellant and the amount filled is 10 million pounds of this gaseous mixture.
Elon Musk’s astronautics company did these final checks to be 100% sure of the Starship’s integrity before the upcoming crucial Flight 6 test.
Chopsticks Improvements and Testing
The Starship launch integration towers at Starbase are unique in their engineering. SpaceX started working on an ambitious in 2021 — creating the Chopsticks.
These hand-like large robotic meta structures were first intended to perform Starship integration (mounting Super Heavy on the OLM and mounting the upper-stage Starship onto the booster). However, Elon Musk had some hidden plans. He announced that these Chopstick arms will be used to catch the Starship booster and 2nd-stage spaceship on landing in the future (only a few believed him at the time).
We saw the landing-catch of the Super Heavy Booster 12 in the previous Flight 5 test (IFT-5).
Learning from the data and launch experience from Flight 5, SpaceX has further improved the launch tower Chopsticks and other equipment. These new improvements based on solid flight data will be useful to make the Flight 6 test even better.
During the last week, before stacking Flight 6 Starship, SpaceX performed various maneuvers on the improved Chopsticks that will be used to attempt a landing-catch of the Super Heavy booster.
The improved Chopsticks were also tested as they were used to perform the mounting of Booster 13 and integrating Ship 31 onto it (video below).
Various Tests and Developments
After transporting the Flight 6 Starship upper stage (Ship 31) to the launch tower and mounting it on the OLM, SpaceX performed some flap testing on it. As Ship 31 came out of the High Bay, its forward flaps were closed (tilted backward). After mounting it on the OLM, SpaceX opened the flaps as they should be at liftoff (video below).
The ship quick disconnect (QD) arm was also seen being tested (connected and retracted). The ship QD arm is used to fill and empty propellants from the Starship upper/2nd stage.
Super Heavy Booster 13 grid fins were also seen getting tested after the Flight 6 Starship was fully integrated at the launch tower. SpaceX performed some calisthenics to ensure the flight-readiness of the grid fins.
Super Heavy Armed with FTS
SpaceX has also installed the Flight 6 Super Heavy rocket booster (Booster 13) with the flight termination system (FTS). According to the NasaSpaceFlight.com ground observation team at Starbase, Booster 13 has been armed with the FTS.
Multiple SpaceX engineers worked for several hours to install the FTS on Super Heavy. The crane lift stayed in front of the Booster 13 FTS location all the time while engineers equipped it with the system (watch below).
Stay tuned for further updates and coverage of the Flight 6 launch event on Tuesday. Check out the entire history of the Flight 6 test here. Flight termination system is used when a rocket booster or ship loses its planned trajectory and becomes a threat for environment or life back on the planet.
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