Starship Flight 6 - What to expect
Starship Flight 6 will lift off NET (Not Earlier Than) November 19th during a 30-minute window that opens at 4pm CDT. This test will feature Ship 31, the last Block 1 Ship, and Booster 13, and will demonstrate the Ship’s capability to reignite a Raptor engine in space. If it goes well, Flight 7 of Starship might be orbital for the first time (however, this is speculation); the Booster will instead try to repeat what it did during Flight 5, which is a successful ascent, separation, and return to launch site, culminating in a catch. This launch comes just 37 days after Flight 5, making this a record turnaround. However, due to Block 2 Ship debut and possible orbital flight, Flight 7 will most likely have a longer turnaround time. But we’ll talk all about this further on.
Flight 6 vehicles
The Starship vehicle is composed of 2 vehicles: the Super Heavy Booster, 71 m high, and the Ship (also known as Starship), 50 m high. Together, they make the biggest, tallest, and most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, and the first to be fully reusable.
Booster 13
Booster 13 during rollout. Credit: SpaceX
The prototype of the Super Heavy Booster used for Flight 6 is Booster 13. This Booster has received several upgrades compared to Booster 12, including additional redundancy to the propulsion systems, increased structural strength at key areas (such as the chines), repositioned FTS boxes, changes to the raceways, smaller Cowbell vents, a shorter timeline for propellant offload following catch, and updates for software control and return criteria. These changes have been made following Booster 12’s data, the first Booster to be caught, which experienced the removal of a chine cover by aerodynamic forces during descent and minor problems to the engines’ thrust. Booster 13 also has several upgrades from its predecessors: extra LOX ullage vent on each side and revised autogenous pressurization pipework.
December 1st, 2022: first parts spotted.
September 5th, 2023: stacking begins.
February 3rd, 2024: stacking completed.
April 24th, 2024: Booster cap installed (first Booster to have it).
April 25th, 2024: Booster 13 is rolled to Massey’s.
April 26th/27th 2024: Cryo test 1 of Booster 13’s CH4 tank.
April 29th, 2024: Cryo test 2 of Booster 13’s LOX tank.
May 3rd, 2024: Booster 13 is rolled back to the Production Site.
October 22nd, 2024: Booster 13 is rolled to the Launch Site for its stacking fire testing, only 9 days after Flight 5.
October 23rd, 2024: Ambient Pressure test, probably to verify the correct functioning of all the ground systems and pipework before cryogenic propellant is used.
October 24th, 2024: Static Fire 1: Booster 13’s only static fire, it lasted about 9 seconds and seemed to be nominal; however, SpaceX has not shared any footage or news about it.
October 25th, 2024: Booster 13 is rolled back to the Production Site.
November 14th, 2024: Booster 13 is rolled to the Launch Site ahead of launch.
November 15th, 2024: Ship 25 is lifted atop Booster 13.
Ship 31
Ship 31’s top section, including the banana decal. Credit: SpaceX
Ship 31 during its static fire. Credit: SpaceX
The prototype of the Ship used for the 6th flight test of Starship is Ship 31. Ship 31 has received several upgrades from Flight 5, but instead of things being added, this time things were being removed: many heatshield tiles have been removed from the Ship’s sides (1370 tiles according to TheSpaceEngineer on X) to test future capabilities for Ship’s catch and reuse. SpaceX wants to verify which are the best locations to put the Ship’s catch pins, especially since Kathy Lueders, Starbase General Manager, has recently announced SpaceX aims to catch the Ship within May 2025. They probably also want to verify if tiles are unnecessary in some areas and therefore might need to be removed on following Ship prototypes; this change, however, could expose the Ship to a lot of heat in critical areas during reentry, enhancing the risk of its survivability. Other experiments are being performed on the heatshield, such as 4 spots without tiles on the Ship’s body and 6 tiles on the front side of the aft flap. This launch will mark the last launch of a Block 1 Ship: starting from Flight 7, Block 2 Ship 33 will debut (since Ship 32 is being skipped), which is 1 ring taller, features longer tanks and less payload volume, and has its flaps more leeward, with a different angulation. As decals, SpaceX added the usual “S31” decal but also a decal of a conscious banana holding a banana in its hand, on which it is written “For scale.”
August 18th, 2022: first parts spotted.
August 31st, 2023: stacking begins.
October 3rd, 2023: stacking is completed in just 33 days.
May 11th, 2024: Ship 31 is rolled to Massey’s for cryogenic proof testing.
May 12th, 2024: Cryo test 1: during its first cryo proof testing, Ship 31 caught a small fire on the raceway on its body; this was probably due to a high-pressure cryo line bursting, which damaged the high-voltage electronic table. The Ship didn’t receive significant damage but had to be rolled back to the Production Site for repairs, and this gave it the nickname “Sparky”.
July 1st, 2024: Ship 31 is rolled back to Massey’s.
July 2nd, 2024: Cryo test 2 of both tanks of Ship 31.
July 3rd, 2024: Cryo test 3 of both tanks of Ship 31, however partially this time.
July 6th, 2024: Ship 31 is rolled back to the Production Site.
August 5th, 2024: tile work begins on Ship 31.
September 6th, 2024: Ship 31 is rolled to Massey’s.
September 18th, 2024: Static fire 1: following 2 aborted attempts near T-0 on the 8th and 14th, Ship 31 successfully conducted a full duration static fire of all its 6 Raptor engines, as shown from the slow-mo video shared by SpaceX. Following its successful static fire, Ship 31 was rolled back to the Production Site before tile work resumed after Flight 5.
November 11th, 2024: Ship 31 is rolled to the Launch Site.
November 15th, 2024: Ship 31 is stacked atop Booster 13.
Flight 6 profile
Flight 6 will surely be an interesting and exciting flight! But what will it consist of? What are the changes compared to the previous flight? So, starting from the pre-launch activities, the Ship’s CH4 load will begin at T-49m50s like last flight, but LOX load will begin 41 seconds earlier, at T-49m21s; as for the Booster, CH4 load will begin at 35 seconds earlier and LOX load, 1 minute and 36 seconds earlier. Everything else in the countdown will remain the same, while excitement will be building up! At T-3s, the ignition sequence for the Booster’s 33 Raptor engines will begin, and at T+2s, the full stack is going to lift off. Ascent will be the same, with all events varying by just a few seconds at most, compared to Flight 5. Hot-staging is going to take place at T+2m39s, and at that point, the Ship will ignite all its 6 Raptor engines to continue its journey, while the Booster will flip and ignite 13 out of 33 engines for the boostback burn, which will last 54 seconds (1 second more than Flight 5). Following the engines’ shutdown, the Booster’s Hot Staging Ring will detach from the Booster, but before the engines shut down, a decision will need to be made. Based on the data from the vehicle and from the tower, the mission’s Flight Director will need to send a manual command to the Booster if the decision is made to attempt the catch. However, if this command is not sent prior to the boostback burn’s shutdown or if the flight computers see some unusual value, then the Booster is going to initiate an abort scenario and aim for the Gulf of Mexico to make a soft water splashdown. But if the command is sent, Booster 13 will return to Starbase: using its grid fins, it’s going to maneuver itself towards the launch tower like last time, and at T+06:38 the Booster’s 13 Raptor engines will ignite for the landing burn; a few seconds later, 10 of those will be shut down and the central 3 will steer the Booster towards the launch tower chopsticks, where the Booster’s catch pins (2 pieces of hardware, one per Booster’s side, which terminate in a 17-cm wide flat surface) will make contact with the chopsticks’ landing rails as the chopsticks close around the Booster! So, if all goes well, Booster 13 will be the second Super Heavy Booster to be caught in the history of spaceflight. Meanwhile, the Ship will continue its journey and, as always, shut down its engines prior to reaching orbital velocity. Following that, the Ship will start its coast phase around the Earth, and since the launch is scheduled for 4pm CDT, the Ship will coast over the nighttime part of the Earth. At T+37:46, the main goal of this test flight will occur: ignite a Raptor engine, probably a center one, while in space. Such a test had been tried on Flight 3 but was aborted due to the Ship’s loss of roll control; after this we will see reentry, about 10 minutes later, into the Earth’s atmosphere. SpaceX is going to gather a lot of data during reentry, and if the Ship makes it through, then the final descent phase will be performed with a higher angle of attack to purposefully stress the flaps to their limits. This will all culminate in a soft splashdown at the targeted location at T+1h05m24s, with a daytime landing! This is the main reason why SpaceX chose to launch at the designated time. The Ship will come in at this higher angle of attack and then do the flip maneuver and ignite its 3 central Raptor engines for a 23-second landing burn. The unusually long landing burn (compared to previous flights) might be related to the higher angle of attack or to maneuvers for future Ship’s horizontal translation during catch. Now let’s take a look at all the procedures of this test flight.
Pre-launch countdown
T-1h15m: SpaceX Flight Director verifies GO for propellant load
T-49m50s: Ship’s CH4 load begins
T-49m21s: Ship’s LOX load begins
T-41m15s: Booster’s CH4 load begins
T-36m:39s: Booster’s LOX load
T-19m40s: Raptor engine chill begins
T-3m20s: Ship’s propellant load is complete
T-2m50s: Booster’s propellant load is complete
T-30s: Flight Director verifies GO for launch
T-10s: Water Deluge System activated
T-3: Raptor ignition sequence begins
T0: excitement guaranteed
Launch timeline
T+2s: liftoff
T+1m2s: Max-Q
T+2m32s: Booster MECO (Main Engines Cut Off)
T+2m39s: Hot-staging
T+2m44s: Booster boostback burn startup
T+3m38s: Booster boostback burn shutdown
T+3m40s: Hot Staging Ring jettisoned
T+6m25s: Booster is transonic
T+6m38s: Booster landing burn startup
T+7m: Booster catch
T+8m27s: Starship engine cutoff
T+37m46s: In-space Raptor relight
T+47m13s: Starship’s reentry
T+1h2m6s: Starship is transonic
T+1h3m12s: Starship is subsonic
T+1h4m56s: Starship landing flip
T+1h5m1s: Starship landing burn
T+1h5m24s: An exciting landing!
FAA
The launch license for Flight 6 came along with the launch license for Flight 5, which means that this is the first launch that isn’t pending regulatory approval. The FAA accepted the changes made to the Flight 6’s trajectory and therefore issued the launch license.
Where and why watch it?
You can watch Flight 6 from a lot of sources, but you need to be careful since there are many scam streams. You have several options to choose from: you can watch the livestream starting on SpaceX's website about 40 minutes prior to liftoff, directly from their website, or from the X app. You can also watch several hours-long livestreams such as NASASpaceflight, EveryDay Astronaut, and more. They offer great views and commentary throughout the flight, before and after. If you want to watch it in real life, you’d have to get near the Starbase launch site on launch day, possibly many hours before liftoff. You can watch the launch from several locations, such as on South Padre Island, the river, or Brownsville. Recommendations are: go wherever you think you have the best view, and enjoy the launch with whoever you’re watching it with (it might get loud for the sonic booms during launch and during Booster’s return). And why watch it? Well, whether you’ll watch it with friends, family, or even alone, spaceflight always brings people together. Each test flight consists of excitement, awe, beauty, and advances us as a civilization. So if you’re watching it, enjoy the view!
NOTE: we, at The Weekly SpaceMan, will be doing our best to bring you the latest news as soon as possible about Flight 6. At the forefront of our coverage, our member Tom Zenoth, know as “ZenothKSP” on Youtube, will be doing a livestream on that platform starting at 10:50pm UTC, 1 hour and 10 minutes before the opening of the window. We invite you to go see his live during the coverage! You can easily access the live through the last link on references, or by just going on his website, ZenothKSP.
References
Ship 31 (S31) | Starship SpaceX Wiki
Booster 13 (B13) | Starship SpaceX Wiki
https://x.com/mcrs987/status/1856386476470145422
https://www.youtube.com/live/vSeylwHKl4Y?si=UR8Dlj59Qh_bmQfi
