SpaceX’s Starship was on its sixth test flight – A surprising change of plans at the last minute

A space company Space X’s most powerful ship in the world Starship took off on Tuesday night Finnish time for the sixth test flight.

The original plan for the test flight was to return the Super Heavy Booster launch vehicle intact to the launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas. Returning the launcher is done by grabbing it as if in giant pincers. The same thing happened during the test flight in October.

However, Space X decided CNNafter the launch, that there is no attempt to grab the launch vehicle and return it to the launch pad again. The company justified the decision by saying that it always considers acting according to up-to-date data after the launch.

The Super Heavy launch vehicle landed in the Gulf of Mexico shortly after launch.

According to CNN, this time Super Heavy was able to test a different landing, because it landed in the water differently than the last time.

Cell parti.e. the actual spaceship Starship, landed in the Indian Ocean, just like the previous time.

According to CNN, this time Space X decided to test the extreme limits of the ships, which is why the Starship landing was not expected to be as smooth as in October.

The Starship still survived the landing intact.

Previous The fifth test in October showed that the idea of ​​a multi-use launch vehicle is progressing.

The launch vehicle Super Heavy then returned to its starting point as planned. The leading part of the ship, the Starship spacecraft, detached from the launch vehicle in space and landed in the Indian Ocean.

The sixth the aim of the flight is to take another step towards returning the entire ship intact, both the launcher and the Starship. It could be realized on the following flights

One engine of the Starship tip section is now used in space as a test, when there are six engines at the stern of the ship. The ship’s renewed protective shields against heat are being tested, science magazine New Scientist tells.

The difference to the previous test flights was that the sixth flight is in daylight. The twists and turns of the last moments of the flight are better understood in daylight than in the dark final stages of previous flights.

Koelentojen the program progressed to its sixth test flight in a year and a half.

During the first and second test flights in April and November 2023, all parts of the launch vehicle were destroyed or they were destroyed on purpose.

The first time the ship started spinning uncontrollably, so it was destroyed. The second time, the launch vehicle and the Starship successfully separated from each other, but the launch vehicle was destroyed and the nosepiece was destroyed at an altitude of about 150 kilometers.

The third test flight was again successful from the start and the nose section rose to space, but was destroyed on landing. The launch vehicle was also destroyed when it landed towards the sea.

On the fourth flight, a controlled landing of the launch vehicle was already successfully attempted, but still in the sea in the Gulf of Mexico and not on the launch pad. The tip part also landed in the sea as planned.

The seventh test flight is already planned for next year, and several more are planned to follow.

Correction Nov. 21 at 2:20 p.m.: On the fourth test flight, the launch vehicle landed in the Gulf of Mexico, not the Indian Ocean, as erroneously stated.