Starship Launch 6: When is the next SpaceX flight test and what can we expect?

SpaceX is preparing for the sixth test flight of Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket. The company has a “fail fast, learn fast” approach to research and development that is more akin to the world of Silicon Valley than the aerospace industry, and the pace of launches appears to only be accelerating.

When is the next flight?

SpaceX said on its website that it aims to conduct Starship’s sixth test flight as early as November 18. This claim is supported by the Federal Aviation Administration’s NOTAM warning regarding a rocket launch near SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas, launch pad. The 30-minute launch slot opens at 4pm local time (10pm Japan time).

It took SpaceX 18 months to conduct Starship’s first five test flights, with the fifth taking place in mid-October. When the airline launches its sixth flight next week, it will be the fastest flight ever, just over a month after its last flight.

What will SpaceX try with Flight 6?

In many ways, Flight 6 is a repeat of Flight 5, but with some key differences.

The booster stage will again attempt a “chopstick” landing, grabbing and securing the aircraft as it returns to the launch pad so it can be lowered to the ground. This approach is designed to ultimately allow boosters to be reused multiple times and significantly reduce the cost of putting payloads into orbit.

The upper stage will reach space, complete a partial orbit, re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and splash-land in the Indian Ocean. But this time, the upper stage will attempt to reignite one of the Raptor engines during its stay in space in order to gather valuable operational data. It also plans to test new heat shield designs during atmospheric reentry.

Another difference is that because the launch will take place later in the day, the landing of the upper stage in the Indian Ocean can be filmed during the day, allowing for more detailed shots. Previous missions had landed at night, so while the footage was cinematic and dramatic, it didn’t provide engineers with as much insight as footage from daytime landings.

What happened on previous Starship launches?

During the first test flight on April 20, 2023, three of the 33 engines in the booster stage failed to ignite. The rocket then became uncontrollable and self-destructed.

During the second test flight on November 18, 2023, the flight progressed further, gaining enough altitude to separate the booster and upper stage as planned. The booster stage ultimately exploded before reaching the ground, and the upper stage self-destructed before reaching space.

Test Flight 3 on March 14, 2024 was at least partially successful, as the upper stage reached space again, but it did not return to Earth unscathed.

The next flight was on June 6, when the upper stage reached an altitude of more than 200 kilometers and flew at speeds of more than 27,000 kilometers per hour. Both the booster and upper stage completed a soft landing at sea.

Test Flight 5 was the most ambitious yet, with Starship’s superheavy booster dropping onto the launch pad and being safely caught by SpaceX’s “chopsticks” on SpaceX’s launch tower, known as the Mechazilla. It is equipped with “chopsticks” that can be used to grab and fix a specific position on the aircraft and lower it to the ground.