Starship flight test 6

This article is about the sixth flight-test of the integrated full stack Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle. For the 2021 launch of SN9, the 6th test flight of Starship, see List of Starship upper stage flight tests.

Starship Flight Test 6
The plume from Starship flight test 6 as seen from the International Space Station
Mission typeFlight test
OperatorSpaceX
Mission duration1 hour, 5 minutes, 24 seconds
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftStarship Ship 31
Spacecraft typeStarship
ManufacturerSpaceX
Start of mission
Launch dateNovember 19, 2024, 22:00:00 (2024-11-19UTC22Z) UTC (4:00 pm CST)[1]
RocketSuper Heavy (B13)
Launch siteStarbase, OLP-A
End of mission
Landing date
  • Super Heavy: November 19, 2024 (Sank), 22:03:38 UTC (4:03:38 pm CDT)
  • Ship: November 19, 2024, 23:05:24 (November 19, 2024, 23:05:24) UTC
Landing site
Orbital parameters
RegimeTransatmospheric Earth orbit
Perigee altitudeInitial: 8 km (5 mi)
After relight: 50 km (31 mi)[2]
Apogee altitudeInitial: 190 km (120 mi)
After relight: 228 km (142 mi)[2]
Inclination26.3°[2]

Mission patch

Starship flight test 6 was the sixth flight test of a SpaceX Starship launch vehicle. The prototype vehicles flown were the Ship 31 upper stage and first stage Booster 13.[3][4] The flight test started on November 19, 2024, at 22:00:00 UTC (4:00 pm CST, local time at the launch site).[1]

Although the flight had a similar profile to Flight 5, a suborbital flight to the Indian Ocean, it had several changes to gain flight data for future ship recovery and reuse. The ship reentered the atmosphere at a steeper angle to test the limits of the flaps, and certain parts were outfitted with new thermal protection materials. Certain areas of the heat shield were removed in anticipation of the addition of catch hardware on future ships, which will be needed to land the ship on the arms of the launch tower. Flight 6 was the first flight to include an in-space burn of a single Raptor engine, demonstrating the deorbiting capability of Starship. The launch occurred at a later time of day than previous flights to enable the ship to descend to the ocean in the early morning hours at the landing location for better visual observations.[1] This was the last flight of Block 1 Starship. Block 2 and, eventually, Block 3 will be used for future flights.[5]

  1. ^ a b c "Starship's Sixth Flight Test". SpaceX. November 5, 2024. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference McDowell 2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ SpaceX Revving Up for Starship Flight 3. NASASpaceflight. January 29, 2024. Archived from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved November 14, 2024 – via YouTube. Then there's Flight 6, which if all of the other numbers line up as we suspect, is slated to be flown by Booster 13 and Ship 31.
  4. ^ Weber, Ryan (May 16, 2024). "Starship Flight 4 begins Wet Dress Rehearsal campaign". NASASpaceflight. Retrieved July 17, 2024. Ship 31's other half, which is assumed to be Booster 13
  5. ^ "Current, Starship 2 and Starship 3's proposed specs via Elon's update". SpaceXLounge on Reddit. April 6, 2024. Retrieved November 19, 2024.