SpaceX Successfully Splashes Starship In Ocean Despite Ultra-Hard Test & Flight Conditions

SpaceX successfully softly splashed down the second-stage Starship in the Indian Ocean earlier today to finish off Starship Flight 6. The upper-stage Starship spacecraft was the center of the firm’s testing attention today, and not only did it feature older heat-shied tiles, but SpaceX also flew it at a much steeper angle during reentry to test out the rocket’s flaps at high stress.

However, despite the older heat shield and the strenuous reentry profile, the ship performed remarkably well. It culminated its journey from space by not only vertically reorienting itself for a splashdown but also splashing down without error.

SpaceX Successfully Re-ignites Raptor Engine In Space As Part Of Major Test During Starship Flight 6

After SpaceX decided to skip the tower catch with the Super Heavy booster earlier today, all eyes turned to the second-stage Starship. During today’s test, a key objective for the ship was an in-flight Raptor engine re-ignition. This test will enable SpaceX to determine its engine performance for future Starship interplanetary missions. The firm had initially planned to run the test during Starship Flight 3, but after aborting it back then, it successfully ran it today.

After the engine re-ignition, the next phase of Starship’s entry was passing through the Earth’s atmosphere and during peak entry heating. For the ship that flew on Flight 6, this phase was particularly important since SpaceX had conducted limited upgrades to the heat shield tiles as compared to the ship that flew on Starship Flight 5.

However, the firm did add secondary insulation to the upper stage Starship spacecraft and left the heat shield off certain regions of the ship to evaluate locations for future catch hardware. These regions could potentially see SpaceX add components to the ship to catch it with the tower, as it plans to do with the Super Heavy booster.

Despite the older heat shield and the exposed regions, the Starship spacecraft successfully withstood peak entry heating. This phase of its journey was followed by a steeper entry angle designed to fully stress the forward (upper) flaps on the ship. These flaps are responsible for orienting Starship vertically from a horizontal orientation (via the ‘flip’ maneuver) for landing. During re-entry, the ship is nearly horizontal as it has to expose its heat shield to the atmosphere in order to survive entry temperatures.

Even though Starship was slightly titled towards the Earth before the ‘flip,’ the maneuver was executed flawlessly to enable the ship to fire up its Raptor engines for the landing burn. The burn was followed by a successful soft splash down in the Indian Ocean, which marked the end of today’s Starship test flight. Additionally, unlike previous Starship tests that saw the ship explode after touching down, this time around, the spacecraft remained intact to potentially indicate SpaceX’s plans to recover it.

Starship Flight 6 is the last time the current generation of the upper stage spacecraft has been used. SpaceX aims to fly an upgraded Starship on its next flights. This ship uses improved heat shield tiles and has larger tanks, which will prove key in its ability to not only set up a propellant depot in Earth orbit but also conduct long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars.

SpaceX teams continuing to make the nearly impossible look easy! https://t.co/xARHSxvQMg

— Gwynne Shotwell (@Gwynne_Shotwell) November 19, 2024