SpaceX Lets Starship Dip In Sea, Skips Chopsticks Catch For Booster Safety

SpaceX’s Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket standing at 400 feet (122 meters), completed its sixth suborbital test flight on Tuesday, November 19, from the company’s Starbase launch site in Boca Chica, Texas.

The Super Heavy booster, powered by 33 Raptor engines, lifted Starship into the stratosphere. However, unlike previous flights, SpaceX did not use the Mechzilla tower’s “chopsticks” to catch the booster. Instead, it was directed to a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

After the separation from the booster, Starship carried out a successful “boostback burn” to return to the launch site’s vicinity. Due to automated health checks of critical hardware, the planned catch attempt was aborted, but the booster managed to safely perform a landing burn and soft splashdown.

Starship then continued its journey, showcasing its in-flight capabilities, including the successful re-ignition of a single Raptor engine in space, essential for deorbit burns and future orbital missions. Around 47 minutes post-launch, Starship re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and performed a “flip” maneuver, positioning its engines downward for a controlled descent. The spacecraft landed softly in the Indian Ocean about 65 minutes after liftoff.

This milestone flight was especially significant because it took place during daylight, providing SpaceX engineers with valuable visual data and enhanced telemetry for further analysis. In a lighthearted touch, the flight carried a single banana suspended by strings, marking the moment of weightlessness as a fun experiment.

The mission also tested various systems, including redundant propulsion, structural integrity, and new software, while introducing a new heat shield design that will support future refueling and docking operations for orbital supply depots. This flight’s successful data collection is crucial for improving Starship’s performance, as SpaceX moves closer to achieving full and rapid reusability.

SpaceX’s ultimate goal is to use Starship for human missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as to aid in the deployment and maintenance of the Starlink satellite network. The spacecraft is also integral to NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon, with the first landing scheduled for late 2026.