SpaceX's Starship, the world's most powerful 400-foot-tall (122 meters) rocket, took to the skies once again on Tuesday, November 19. Starship's sixth suborbital test flight took place from SpaceX's Starbase launch site at Boca Chica, Texas. The Super Heavy booster ignited its 33 Raptor engines, propelling the Starship into the stratosphere. However, SpaceX decided against capturing the Super Heavy Booster with the giant "chopsticks" or the Mechzilla tower system as they had done previously. The booster was directed to a controlled splashdown in the ocean.
Post-stage separation of the Starship, the booster executed a successful "boostback burn" to re-enter the launch site's vicinity. During this phase, automated health checks of critical hardware on the launch and catch tower triggered an abort of the catch attempt. The booster then executed a pre-planned divert maneuver, performing a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, the SpaceX statement noted.
After a successful separation, the Starship embarked on its own journey, demonstrating its in-flight capabilities. For instance, Starship successfully demonstrated its ability to re-ignite a single Raptor engine in space -- necessary for future deorbit burns and orbital missions. Approximately 47 minutes after liftoff, the Starship re-entered Earth's atmosphere. To orient itself for a controlled descent, it executed a maneuver called a "flip." This positioned the engines downward, allowing for a powered landing. Starship glided towards its designated landing spot in the Indian Ocean. The landing occurred about an hour and five minutes after launch.
"With live views and telemetry being relayed by Starlink, the ship successfully made it through reentry and executed a flip, landing burn, and soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean," SpaceX noted. This landing was particularly significant as it took place during daylight. This provided SpaceX engineers with valuable visual data and more accurate telemetry, aiding in future analysis and improvements. President-elect Donald Trump also attended the launch event in Texas.
As a fun experiment, Flight 6 carried a single banana, suspended by strings, to visually mark the moment of weightlessness. Furthermore, the mission tested various other systems, including redundant propulsion, structural integrity, and new software. It also introduced a new heat shield design that enables docking capabilities for refueling orbital supply depots and prepares the spacecraft for steeper re-entry angles required for future capture landings.
SpaceX highlighted that the data collected from various thermal protection experiments will provide crucial insights to improve the spacecraft's performance. Moreover, the successful flight at a steeper re-entry angle will facilitate future return and capture attempts. "With data and flight learnings as our primary payload, Starship's sixth flight test once again delivered. Lessons learned will directly make the entire Starship system more reliable as we close in on full and rapid reusability," the mission update stated.
SpaceX aims to use Starship to establish human settlements on the Moon and Mars. It could also be used to support the deployment and maintenance of its Starlink satellite megaconstellation. Moreover, NASA is relying on Starship to land Artemis 3 astronauts on the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era. If all goes out planned, the landing is expected to take place in late 2026.