SpaceX will make its next Starship launch attempt on November 18, if all goes to plan – and may also try another catch of the Super Heavy Booster, depending on conditions.
The sixth flight of Elon Musk’s monster rocket has a lot to live up to. The fifth flight test was an undeniably impressive spectacle as the Super Heavy Booster successfully returned to the launch site and was caught by the chopstick arms of the launch tower.
Musk later shared audio recorded while someone played the video game Diablo, describing how close the landing came to being aborted. A commenter on the thread asked “Did you just share Starship data lmaooo?” to which Musk responded, “Yeah 😂.”
During the recording, a voice can be heard explaining that the SpaceX team was “one second” away from a sensor tripping that would have triggered an abort and sent the rocket crashing into the ground.
While SpaceX did not address the comments made in the recording directly, the rocket planned for the sixth flight test will feature hardware changes that include additional redundancy for the booster propulsion systems and increased structural strength.
Software controls and commit criteria for the booster’s launch and return have also been updated. The plan is to attempt another catch of the Super Heavy Booster. However, if conditions are not correct – the final decision lies with the flight director, who must send a manual command – the booster will default to a trajectory that will send it to a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
As with previous tests, the Starship will be sent on a sub-orbital trajectory and a planned controlled entry resulting in a targeted splashdown in the Indian Ocean. This time, however, a single Raptor engine will be ignited for an in-space burn to demonstrate that the system is capable of a de-orbit burn for orbital missions. SpaceX will test new secondary thermal protection materials this time around, and the plan is to fly Starship at a higher angle of attack in the final phase of descent, “purposefully stressing the limits of flap control.”
The launch is currently set for 1600 Central Time (local Texas time), which is 2200 UTC, and has a 30-minute window. The later time will allow the Starship to reenter over the Indian Ocean in daylight, meaning visual observations will be easier as the spacecraft descends.
SpaceX has a license that permits this flight test but has bigger plans for subsequent flights as it marches to the twin goals of rapid launch cadence and full reuse of both the Super Heavy Booster and Ship portions of the Starship system. The company said the seventh flight would feature “significant upgrades including redesigned forward flaps, larger propellant tanks, and the latest generation tiles and secondary thermal protection layers.” ®