SpaceX changes Starship Flight 6 launch window to watch ship reentry

SpaceX has made some drastic changes in the Starship Flight 6 launch time to get visuals of the upper stage’s reentry and landing in the Indian Ocean.

Starship is designed for reusability, the first and second stages can return to the launch pad after completing their objectives. With recent tests, the company has achieved a significant milestone in launching and catching the booster with tower arms.

However, development for the upper stage requires robust testing. The past three flights have appeared very crucial in this direction. With Flight 4, the upper stage passed through the high-heat region and landed in the sea.

Unfortunately, it missed the landing area by a slight distance. Flight 6 completed this objective by driving the ship through the maximum heat and landing vertically in the sea after the final burn.

This test was the most successful and gathered much-needed data to hone Flight 6. It also has some objectives but the company has changed the liftoff window to get some visuals on reentry.

Flight 5 was launched at 7 a.m. in the morning and after nearly an hour of suborbital flight, the ship splashed down at around 8 am in the Indian Ocean. That converts around 7 pm in the Indian Ocean region, which gets quite dark to observe the flight’s reentry and splashdown.

Instead, Flight 6 is now targeting 4 p.m. CT (around 4 am in the morning) and it could land about 5 am in the morning in the Indian Ocean after completing its suborbital flight test.

This change in the launch window could give the camera some light to expose the ship as it splashes down into the sea.

SpaceX Starship Flight 6 will launch on November 18 and will make several upgrades to the heat shield and thermal system of the ship. SpaceX now aiming to make the rocket stable and functional as it prepares to land on the launch pad.