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Live coverage: SpaceX to launch Starship Flight 6 test mission from Starbase in southern Texas
- SpaceX is getting ready to launch its massive Starship rocket in a suborbital test mission called Flight 6 from Pad 1 at Starbase at Boca Chica Beach, Texas.
- This will be the fourth time the spaceflight company launches the vehicle in 2024, making it the sixth test flight of the fully integrated rocket in program history.
- The mission is set to lift off on November 17 at 4 p.m. CST (5 p.m. EST, 2200 UTC).
- In Flight 6, SpaceX will attempt again to catch its Super Heavy booster back at the launch pad using its 'Mechazilla' tower.
- The team will closely track data on both the rocket and the tower and only make the decision to catch the 71 m (232 ft) first stage if conditions are deemed safe.
- The Starship is designed to be the lander for the third and fourth Artemis missions, and the ability to catch and refurbish its Super Heavy boosters is key for the Human Landing System component of the Artemis program.
- Demonstrating Starship's capability to perform a deorbit burn following future orbital missions will be crucial to show that it's capable of not becoming a large mass of space junk.
- The ship upper stage will attempt to perform a soft water landing, and the flight test will assess new secondary thermal protection materials and have entire sections of heat shield tiles removed on either side of the ship.
- The ship will intentionally fly at a higher angle of attack in the final phase of descent, purposefully stressing the limits of flap control to gain data on future landing profiles.
- Spaceflight Now will begin joint live coverage alongside LabPadre about 1.5 hours before launch.
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