Starship flight test 6

Starship flight test 6 will be the sixth flight test of a SpaceX Starship launch vehicle. The prototype vehicles expected to be flown are the Ship 31 upper-stage and Booster 13.[ 2] [ 3] SpaceX is expected to perform the flight test no earlier than November 18, 2024, at 22:00  UTC (4:00  pm  CDT, local time at the launch site).[ 4]

Although the flight will have a similar profile to Flight 5, a suborbital flight to the Indian Ocean, it will have several changes to gain flight data for future ship recovery and reuse. The ship will reenter the atmosphere at a steeper angle to test the limits of the flaps, and certain parts will be outfitted with new thermal protection materials. Tiles will be missing from certain areas of the heat shield in anticipation of the addition of catch hardware on future ships, which will be needed to land the ship on the arms of the launch tower. Flight 6 will be the first flight to include an in-space burn of a single Raptor engine, demonstrating the deorbiting capability of Starship. The flight is planned to take place at a time of day such that the ship reentry will occur in daylight for better visual observations.[ 5]

Starship Ship 31 (S31) was rolled to Masseys Test Site at SpaceX Starbase in Texas for cryogenic testing on May 11.[ 6] During its first cryogenic test on May 12, an electrical anomaly occurred,[ 7] and Starship Ship 31 was rolled back to the production site for repairs on May 15.[ 8] S31 completed a successful cryogenic test in early July.[ 9] S31 completed a successful static fire on September 18.[ 10]

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