Watch 6th SpaceX Starship booster splashdown after halting tower catch

SpaceX has conducted the 6th Starship integrated flight test and completed all after-launch milestones including Max Q and Hot-staging but the booster had to perform a splashdown.

The booster 13 used for this mission includes 33 Raptor engines, which makes it the most powerful rocket engine ever produced. It generates a total of 7,590 tf of thrust at sea level using sub-cooled liquid methane and liquid oxygen.

It is 71 meters tall and expands 9 meters wide. It is designed to achieve reusability with each flight and return to the launch site after hot staging.

En route to the landing point, the company conducted a couple of eligibility tests for a launch tower catch. This validates whether the booster is ready to land on the launch site.

The company attempted this catch for the first time with flight 5 unfortunately, the booster for the sixth flight failed in the eligibility test and deflected for sea landing.

The entire structure has an aerodynamic-friendly design featuring grid fins, which help to navigate the rocket as it descends through the atmosphere and maintains its trajectory toward the landing zone.

In the last seconds, the booster fired 13 Raptor engines to slow down the rocket. After slowing down the rocket, the rocket shifted to 3 center Raptors as it splashed into the Gulf of Mexico.

SpaceX has been testing this maneuver for the past 6 months but the maiden catch remains exclusive for the time being and we’ll have to wait until the next flight to see the booster catch again.

Next flight

SpaceX will gather the data from this flight and use it for Flight 7 to improve the design further.