SpaceX Starship Flight 6’s Biggest Watch Item Is The Second-Stage Starship Spacecraft
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SpaceX is ready to fly the full Starship stack for the sixth time tomorrow. Starship Flight 6 comes just a month after Flight 5 took to the skies. During Flight 6, SpaceX will not only attempt to catch the 232-foot-tall with the catch tower again, but it will also test the second-stage Starship spacecraft to the limit and attempt an in-space Raptor ignition. The latter test is key to the long-term progress of the Starship program since it will form the backbone of the rocket's missions to the Moon and Mars.
SpaceX To Test Starship Second Stage Engine, Thermal Endurance During Flight 6
Between Starship's Flight 1 and Flight 5, SpaceX has achieved several test objectives and discovered new hurdles on its path to getting the world's most powerful rocket to operational status. These have included gradually improving Raptor engine reliability over the course of successive tests, to improving heat shield design, better protection for flaps and a new stage-separation system. For Flight 6, SpaceX plans to build on these challenges and focus particularly on the upper-stage Starship spacecraft.
Related Story SpaceX Completes Starship Pre-Flight 6 Tests & Is Ready To Launch On Tuesday
In an earlier update, the firm shared that with Starship Flight 6, it will test additional thermal insulation on the ship and fly it at a steeper angle to test out flap control. The latter test, according to SpaceX, is key for the Starship program's most important objective of reusing the upper-stage spacecraft. Out of all the rocket systems in the world, only SpaceX's Falcon 9 is an orbital-class rocket whose booster can land via self-propulsion.
No rocket has a reusable second stage, and as the Falcon 9's second stage is a key cost driver for its launches, SpaceX plans to recover and reuse the Starship second stage.
The recovery will also be part of Flight
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