SpaceX
Catch the Sixth SpaceX Starship Flight Liftoff
On Tuesday, November 19, SpaceX fired the 33 Raptor engines and liftoff the sixth integrated Starship flight from Boca Chica Starbase facility in Texas.
Prior to liftoff, the company kicked off the ground system and fired the water deluge to reduce thrust impact on the launch pad.
Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/rSLQ2DDy63
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 19, 2024
This was the fastest turnaround for a Starship flight compared to the past five launches. It comes only within 40 days of flight 5, while previous flights took months before fetching an FAA license.
An hour before liftoff, the company filled the first and second stages to prepare this first step and began chilling down all 39 Raptor engines combined for both stages.
The integrated flight stands 121 meters high and it’s 9 meters wide with a payload capacity of 100 to 150 tonnes.
For this flight test, SpaceX used a banana in the payload, which is almost the width of a Starlink mini. However, the company didn’t deploy it into orbit and it’s only for testing purposes.
Both stages are designed for reusability. With the last flight, the company caught the booster with the launch tower but this wasn’t the scenario this time as the first stage deflected to the Gulf of Mexico for a splashdown.
Super Heavy initiates its landing burn and softly splashes down in the Gulf of Mexico pic.twitter.com/BZ3Az4GssC
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 19, 2024
Meanwhile, the rocket maker still needs a few flights to do a launch site landing for the ship.
