SpaceX’s Starship rocket embarked on a successful test flight from Texas on Thursday, launching at about 8:50 a.m. EDT from SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas. This fourth test flight saw the world’s largest and most powerful rocket—standing nearly 400 feet tall—take off without any crew onboard, aiming for a journey across the Gulf of Mexico and eastward to the Indian Ocean for a planned hour-long flight.
The SpaceX Starship integrated flight test 4 (IFT-4) involved the Starship Ship 29 upper-stage and Super Heavy Booster 11. The main objectives were for the Super Heavy booster to simulate a landing and for Starship to survive peak heating during atmospheric re-entry. This was the first time both the second stage, Starship, and the first stage, Super Heavy, successfully landed.
Minutes after the morning liftoff, the first-stage booster separated from the spacecraft and performed a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, in a powered descent that appeared to go exactly as planned.
“And we have splashdown!” announced SpaceX launch commentator Kate Tice from Mission Control at the company’s headquarters in California, marking a crucial achievement for SpaceX’s goal of reusing the Super Heavy booster.
This Starship launch was pivotal for the company’s vision of returning the booster to its launch site for reuse. In March, SpaceX came close to achieving this goal but lost contact with the spacecraft, resulting in an explosion. Previous test flights also ended in explosions shortly after liftoff, causing significant damage and debris.
In previous tests, SpaceX had struggled to achieve controlled landings, critical for returning astronauts to the moon. However, this fourth test flight saw Starship reach an altitude of 132 miles before performing a flip maneuver and a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean.
Improvements were made to the software and rocket-flyback procedures to enhance the chances of success , building on data from three previous flight tests. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted approval for this fourth test on Tuesday, confirming that all safety requirements had been met.
As Starship re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, it endured the formation of extremely hot plasma, which can disrupt communication. Despite this, SpaceX maintained steady communication, providing impressive views of the descent. The Super Heavy booster also performed a controlled descent and a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Our first-ever ship landing burn after a launch into space … that was incredible,” said SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot during a live broadcast.
Starship is designed for full reusability, a feature that necessitates controlled landings. While nothing was recovered from this flight, it provided critical practice for future missions. NASA has ordered two Starships for moon-landing missions scheduled for later this decade. Astronauts will use NASA’s rocket and capsule to reach lunar orbit, where they will transfer to Starship for the descent to the moon’s surface.
“Splashdown confirmed!” SpaceX posted on social media after the flight.
The successful test flights have progressively achieved more test objectives, although previous flights ended in destruction before mission completion. Each test flight builds on the lessons learned from previous missions, aligning with SpaceX’s strategy of “recursive improvement” towards developing a fully reusable rocket for missions to the moon and Mars.
About Starship
The Starship system, standing at 397 feet when fully stacked on the Super Heavy booster, is the tallest and most powerful rocket ever launched. The Super Heavy booster, with its 33 Raptor engines, produces 16.7 million pounds of thrust, doubling the power of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket.
Starship itself is 165 feet tall, equipped with six Raptor engines, and is powered by liquid oxygen and liquid methane. The full system requires over 10 million pounds of propellant for launch.
During the flight, SpaceX focused on demonstrating the reusability of the Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft. NASA has ordered two Starships for future moon-landing missions as part of the Artemis program, which involves astronauts meeting up with Starship in lunar orbit for the descent.
“Despite loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean!” Elon Musk announced on social media, celebrating the successful flight and the promising future of SpaceX’s Starship program.
