SpaceX is marking June 6 as a historic day in its calendar. The Starship's fourth test flight saw massive successes, which made the Stainless Steel rocket a step closer to its goals. The frequent updates from SpaceX and Elon Musk showed massive glee over this recent feat of the Starship, with both the booster and the rocket making successful landing splashdowns.
The only difference between its other rockets and this test flight is that it did not attempt a landing on its autonomous drone ships, but Musk and SpaceX have different plans for a future venture.
SpaceX Starship Finds Success in 4th Test Flight
SpaceX shared a milestone in its fourth test flight of the Starship, with the company sharing that the Stainless Steel rocket delivered on its latest launch. Its early June plans to launch the Starship commenced earlier today at the Starbase launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas. This mission was the farthest the rocket went, demonstrating its capabilities to return to the planet.
According to SpaceX's official release, the Super Heavy achieved a full-duration ascent burn to propel the booster rocket and Starship to the skies. Additionally, it saw a successful hot-stage separation.
The Super Heavy also successfully performed a flip maneuver as it prepared to return to the planet. It ended with a landing burn before splashing down into the Gulf of Mexico.
Reusable Rocket, Booster Lands Triumphantly
Starship reached its target in space before positioning itself for re-entry. The stainless Steel rocket also saw a controlled re-entry faced with peak heating and max aerodynamic pressure phases. The rocket also demonstrated control in its re-entry using its flaps, performing its flip maneuver, and Starship reigniting its three Raptor engines before a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean after one hour and six minutes from its launch.
Starship made a controlled reentry, successfully making it through the phases of peak heating and max aerodynamic pressure and demonstrating the ability to control the vehicle using its flaps while descending through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds pic.twitter.com/p8bC9UweLx
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2024
SpaceX Starship's Challenges in Tests
The Starship was allowed to fly for the first time for its tests last April 2023, with the FAA giving it the license to proceed with its testing. However, it was not an entirely successful launch for SpaceX as Starship had not yet been flying for a long time before a massive explosion was seen, reducing both the Super Heavy and Starship to debris.
Its second Starship test was done in November and ended abruptly for the company.
SpaceX conducted Starship's third launch last March only. While it also ended with Starship getting lost in the process, it was considered a massive development for the rocket. The spacecraft was said to have a successful liftoff from Starbase, but it did not return as intended, losing Ship 28 in the Indian Ocean.
After the many trials and tribulations, SpaceX faced with the Starship, especially with its prolonged development time during the early 2020s decade, which saw several successes and failures along the way. However, this June 6th launch for SpaceX broke the failure streak, seeing a successful test launch from start to end, with the Starship soon to be ready for bigger responsibilities.
