Following a historic test last month, SpaceX announced its sixth Starship flight, scheduled for November 18. In its previous mission, Starship’s Super Heavy booster successfully returned to its launch site at Starbase, where it was caught by the “chopstick arms” and catch tower, marking a key milestone in reusability efforts.
For the upcoming flight, SpaceX aims to push the performance of both the ship and booster further. According to the company’s statement, this mission seeks to “expand the envelope on ship and booster capabilities and get closer to bringing reuse of the entire system online.” Key objectives include another booster return to the launch site for catching, as well as a ship Raptor engine reignition in space.
In addition to booster landing advancements, the sixth flight will test “a suite of heatshield experiments and maneuvering changes for ship reentry and descent over the Indian Ocean.” The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approved both the fifth and sixth test flights simultaneously in October due to their similar mission goals.
SpaceX has also planned several upgrades for this mission, focusing on boosting reliability and system efficiency. Improvements include enhanced redundancy in the booster’s propulsion, updated software controls, and modified structural components. Additionally, SpaceX intends to “assess new secondary thermal protection materials” and test hardware that will allow future ships to be equipped with catch-compatible modifications, which involve the removal of heat shield tiles on specific sections.
The upper stage of Starship will once again follow a suborbital trajectory, targeting a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. This marks a continuation of its prior success from June’s fourth test flight, where SpaceX achieved its first successful upper-stage splashdown in the same region. Future missions, starting with flight 7, are expected to introduce more “significant upgrades” to Starship’s design, including redesigned flaps, expanded propellant tanks, and the latest in thermal protection technologies.
SpaceX, under the leadership of billionaire Elon Musk, is also advancing its commercial missions, such as the recent Dragon mission’s 31st commercial resupply to the International Space Station, while preparing for further refinements to Starship with each successive flight.