Starship's Final Flight: A Data-Driven Launch

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What Exactly Happened On Starship's Sixth Launch Attempt?

TheSpaceBucket

Nov 20, 2024

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Science & Technology

Intro

  1. The sixth Starship launch occurred 37 days after the previous one, marking a significant event as it was the last flight of the V1 Starship.
  2. To maximize data collection before transitioning to the V2 model, the company implemented several final changes to the flight profile and the vehicle.
  3. These changes included a more aggressive booster catch attempt, which aimed to improve the recovery process of the booster stage.
  4. The re-entry of the ship was made steeper, resulting in a hotter descent, to test the vehicle's thermal protection capabilities under more extreme conditions.
  5. A raptor engine relight was conducted in space, which is crucial for testing the engine's reliability and performance in the vacuum of space.

Flight Test 6

  1. The sixth Starship flight test occurred in the late afternoon, unlike previous early morning launches, marking the last V1 Starship flight before transitioning to V2.
  2. The launch proceeded smoothly with all 33 Raptor engines firing as expected, and the vehicle passed through Max Q, the point of maximum mechanical stress.
  3. At T+2:30, most engines cut off, and hot staging occurred, where the ship ignited its engines while still attached to the booster, which then separated.
  4. The booster attempted a return to the launch site but was diverted to a water landing due to unmet criteria for a catch, demonstrating a successful abort and soft landing in the Gulf of Mexico.
  5. The ship continued its mission, performing a Raptor relight in space, a first for the Starship program, to test technology for future orbital missions.
  6. During re-entry, the ship faced peak heating, with some burn-through observed on the flaps, but it successfully cooled down and slowed to a safe speed.
  7. The ship executed a more aggressive re-entry angle than usual, aiming to gather data for future catch attempts, and successfully touched down in the water.
  8. This test flight was crucial for understanding the vehicle's limits and will inform future upgrades and missions, as it was the last flight of the V1 Starship.