Starship flight test 4

Starship flight test 4

Mission type	Suborbital flight test
Operator	SpaceX
Mission duration	1 hour, 6 minutes, 10 seconds
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Starship Ship 29
Spacecraft type	Starship
Manufacturer	SpaceX
Start of mission
Launch date	June 6, 2024, 7:50 am CDT (12:50 UTC)[1]
Rocket	Super Heavy (B11)
Launch site	Starbase, OLP-A
End of mission
Landing date	Booster: June 6, 2024, 7:57:30 am CDT (12:57:30 UTC)[1] Spacecraft: June 6, 2024, 8:55:57 am CDT (13:55:57 UTC)[1]
Landing site	Super Heavy: Gulf of Mexico Ship: Indian Ocean
Orbital parameters
Regime	Suborbital
Periapsis altitude	−15 km (−9.3 mi)[2]
Apoapsis altitude	213 km (132 mi)[3][not specific enough to verify]
Inclination	26.8°[2]
Mission patch SpaceX Starship flight tests ← Flight 3 Flight 5 →

Starship flight test 4 was the fourth flight test of the SpaceX Starship launch vehicle. SpaceX performed the flight test on June 6, 2024. The prototype vehicles flown were the Starship Ship 29 upper-stage and Super Heavy Booster 11.^[4][5]

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.^[6]

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.