SpaceX Prepares for Sixth Starship Test Launch on November 18
SpaceX plans to conduct its sixth flight test of Starship on Monday, November 18. A live webcast of the test will begin approximately 30 minutes before liftoff and will be available on the SpaceX website, the X platform, and the X TV app.
As it turned out, SpaceX simultaneously received permission from the regulator for the fifth and sixth test flights. Perhaps the procedure was accelerated by the conflict between the company and the regulator, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which was brought into the public space.
The sixth launch of the Super Heavy first stage will have essentially the same goals as the fifth test flight. The first stage will land softly and be captured by the launcher’s “chopsticks,” as they’ve been informally called. The ship will splash down softly in the Indian Ocean. What’s different from the previous test is that Starship will attempt to restart one of its engines in a vacuum and will attempt to increase its angle of attack during the final atmospheric pass to evaluate the flaps and explore different descent scenarios.
Future ships, starting with prototypes for the seventh flight test, will fly with significant upgrades, including redesigned forward “wings,” larger fuel tanks, and the latest generation of tiles and secondary heat protection layers.
