SpaceX Finally Sinks Flight 6 Super Heavy Booster Part In Water

wccftech.com:

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

After the 232-feet-tall Super Heavy booster for Starship Flight 6 refused to sink to the bottom of the water, fresh footage shows a portion of the rocket sinking and meeting its final destination. SpaceX's Starship Flight 6 took to the skies earlier this month, and as opposed to Flight 5, it saw the booster make a soft splashdown in the water instead. The splashdown occurred after controllers decided to abort the tower catch, and Elon Musk's statements confirmed later that an issue with the launch tower was behind the abort.

SpaceX's Super Heavy Booster Finally Sinks And Heads To Its Resting Place

SpaceX's Starship Flight 6 was the only test flight in which the Super Heavy booster survived the water landing intact and was not caught by the launch tower. The firm's operational commitments with the FAA require it to sink the booster in the ocean after it lands. However, SpaceX's Flight 6 live stream footage showed the rocket floating at an upward angle post-splashdown. Later, additional footage showed a close-up of the tail or aft section of the rocket that had failed to sink.

Related Story SpaceX’s Starship Flight 7 Planned For January Suggests NASA Letter To The FAA

If the booster fails to sink into the water, SpaceX must follow pre-determined strategies to avoid polluting the water's surface. In its submission to the FAA, the firm outlined two primary methods for sinking the Super Heavy. The first is to "remotely open the tank vents allowing water into the tank to sink the vehicle." In case SpaceX cannot open the vents, it will open the tank valves, and if this does not work, then the third option requires the firm to use a ship and towline to "roll the vehicle on its long axis to induce sinking."

For the Flight 6 Super Heavy booster, after the ship was guided by support aircraft to the south of its landing site, it appears