SpaceX Starship integrated flight test 4

Starship Flight 4
Mission typeFlight test
OperatorSpaceX
Mission duration1 hour, 6 minutes, 10 seconds
Orbits completed<1
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftStarship Ship 29
Spacecraft typeStarship
ManufacturerSpaceX
Start of mission
Launch dateJune 6, 2024, 12:50:00 UTC (7:50 am CDT)[1]
RocketSuper Heavy (B11)
Launch siteStarbase, OLM-A
End of mission
Landing date
  • Booster: June 6, 2024, 12:57:30 UTC (07:57:30 am CDT)[1]
  • Spacecraft: June 6, 2024, 13:55:57 UTC (08:55:57 am CDT)[1]
Orbital parameters
RegimeSuborbital[2]
Apoapsis altitude213 km (132 mi)[3]
Inclination26.8°[4]
← IFT-3
IFT-5 →

Starship integrated flight test 4 was the fourth flight test of a prototype Starship launch vehicle, the world's most powerful rocket.[5] The prototype vehicles flown were the Starship Ship 29 upper-stage and Super Heavy Booster 11.[6][7] SpaceX performed the flight test on June 6, 2024.

The main test objectives of this flight, both of which were accomplished, were for the Super Heavy booster to simulate a landing at a "virtual tower" just above the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, and for Starship to survive at least peak heating during atmospheric re-entry.[8]

This marked the first integrated test flight where both Starship and Super Heavy successfully reentered and performed a powered vertical landing over the ocean surface.

  1. ^ a b c "STARSHIP'S FOURTH FLIGHT TEST". SpaceX. June 6, 2024. Archived from the original on June 1, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  2. ^ "STARSHIP'S FOURTH FLIGHT TEST". SpaceX. May 24, 2024. Archived from the original on June 1, 2024. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  3. ^ Scott Manley (June 6, 2024). SpaceX's Starship Literally Melted! But It Kept Flying To A Miraculous Landing!. Archived from the original on June 7, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ "Jonathan's Space Report - Latest Issue". Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference cbs20240606 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "SpaceX Revving Up for Starship Flight 3: | Starbase Update". NASASpaceFlight. January 29, 2024. Archived from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  7. ^ Bergin, Chris [@NASASpaceflight] (March 7, 2024). "We are live with testing of Ship 29, which is the upper stage of the fourth Starship Flight Test" (Tweet). Retrieved May 11, 2024 – via Twitter.
  8. ^ Davenport, Justin (April 19, 2024). "As IFT-4 prepares for launch, Starship's future is coming into focus". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 3, 2024.

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