Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX successfully launches sixth Starship test flight with no catch

by · Teslarati

SpaceX successfully launched its sixth test flight of Starship on Tuesday from Starbase, Texas. There was no catch today, as SpaceX did not see favorable conditions for the attempt.

Starship took off on time right at 4:00 p.m. CT, and the Super Heavy booster landed with a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico about seven minutes after liftoff.

About two minutes before the successful splashdown, SpaceX decided to abort an attempt at catching Super Heavy once again. SpaceX kept safety as a priority as always and decided that conditions for a catch attempt were not met. It called for a booster offshore divert and completed it with no issues.

CEO Elon Musk said in a post on X that he hoped to catch Super Heavy faster and harder with this launch, along with three other objectives:

The Banana Payload

SpaceX teased the involvement of a banana for IFT-6 with images of the rocket moving to the launch pad several days ago:

During the broadcast on X of the Starship test flight, it was explained that the banana was symbolic for the first-ever payload carried onboard. A banana was placed on board for a zero gravity indicator, but it was also so SpaceX could go through the approval process for payloads with the FAA.

SpaceX broadcast hosts said it would familiarize SpaceX with the regulatory process with the FAA, likely hoping to avoid the issues the company has had with the agency in the past. Also, it seems to be a sign that SpaceX is ready to start testing payloads, with launches taking place in 2025.

You can pick up some of the Banana (For Scale) merch on SpaceX’s website. I’ve already picked what I am going to grab from this launch:

SpaceX could launch the seventh test flight before the end of the year. The fifth Starship launch took place in October, just over a month ago. There is a possibility SpaceX will push the envelope and try one more time before Christmas, but it remains to be seen if the company will instead wait until early 2025.

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