SpaceX Starship Flight 6 is now targeting Tuesday, November 19

SpaceX has officially rescheduled the Starship Test Flight 6 to Monday, November 19 from a day earlier on Monday, November 18, 2024. The company has not provided any details on the rescheduling but it was speculated in the previous launch confirmation. These adjustments are normal for such a big test mission.

The launch window for this mission will open at 4:00 p.m. CT for 30 minutes. This liftoff time has been shifted from morning, used in the past flight, to observe the second stage’s reentry and splash down in the Indian Ocean.

While announcing this new date, SpaceX also shared new images of the Flight 6 booster and the second stage sully stacked on the launch pad and ready for the flight. All preparations including the pre-flight tests and ground system are also checked.

SpaceX Starship Stacked on the Launch Mount at Starbase, Texas (Source – SpaceX)

Starting this mission, SpaceX will focus on improving the second stage and preparing it for vertical landing on the launch site. However, the spacecraft is not ready for this maneuver.

This move would require the second stage to achieve a controlled landing without taking any damage from the reentry phase. It also need to sustain the thermal system and heat shield tiles for reusability.

Last month, SpaceX launched Flight 5, which has achieved a major milestone by catching the first stage with launch tower arms. The rocket had a fail-safe mechanism, which would’ve canceled the catch in the first place but the landing phase inlined with the plan and SpaceX caught the booster.

The data from this flight has helped the company to improve Flight 6’s vehicle design and ground systems. Still, the catch mechanism needs to be polished and requires major improvements to conduct these operations seamlessly.

Therefore, the company will keep the fail-safe mechanism in place and land the first stage on the tower only if it finds new issues during the descent.

Whatever the result, SpaceX Starship Flight 6 will guarantee fun on November 19. We’ll keep you posted if any adjustment is made to the launch date.

(source)