SpaceX Starship Flight 4 officially aim for June 5 [Updated]

Update: June 1, 2024: SpaceX is now assuming no earlier than June 6 to launch Starship Flight 4 on June 6 while the company is waiting for regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FFA).

May 24, 2024: SpaceX has officially announced a speculated Starship Flight Test 4 date for June 5. The announcement comes as the company awaits Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval.

The live webcast for this mission will start about 30 minutes prior to liftoff. The launch window will open as early as 7 a.m. CT. However, the time and date may change based on different scenarios.

The fourth flight aims to achieve orbit and demonstrate abilities including returning and reusing Starship and Super Heavy. The primary goal for the test flight is to perform a landing burn and soft landing in the Gulf of Mexico with the Super Heavy booster.

On the other hand, the company is looking to land the starship with a controlled landing. To achieve this new goal, SpaceX has made new changes in software and hardware to increase reliability and apply fixes based on the data provided by Starship Flight 3.

SpaceX has also applied operation changes including the jettison of the Super Heavy’s hot-stage following boostback to reduce booster mass for the final phase of the flight.

Flight 4 will fly in flight 3’s trajectory and Starship spacecraft is targeting a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The rocket maker revealed that the flight path doesn’t require a deorbit burn for reentry. Thus the step will maximize public safety and provide the momentum to meet the primary objective of a controlled Starship reentry.

(Source)