SpaceX Announces Starship's Sixth Test Flight Set for November 18

After a historic test flight of Starship last month, SpaceX on Thursday announced the sixth, aiming to launch on November 18.
For its fifth test flight in October, the Super Heavy booster successfully returned to the launch site and was caught by the "chopstick arms" and catch tower at Starbase.

The company promises that for the next flight, the world's largest and most powerful rocket "will expand the envelope on ship and booster capabilities and bring the company closer to bringing back reuse of the entire system online," according to a statement by SpaceX.

While it is still scheduled to return to the launch site for the catch, other objectives are "reigniting a ship Raptor engine while in space." It will also try "a suite of heatshield experiments and maneuvering changes for ship reentry and descent over the Indian Ocean."

Since the objectives were the same, the US Federal Aviation Administration cleared both flights 5 and 6 simultaneously back in October.

The company also will bring several upgrades to the system, including more redundancy in the booster propulsion systems, upgraded software controls, and other changes.

It also will "assess new secondary thermal protection materials" and remove heat shield tiles on both sides of the ship for catch-enabling hardware on future vehicles.

Starship's upper stage will fly the same suborbital trajectory as on its last flight test, and splashdown is targeted in the Indian Ocean, said the company headed by billionaire Elon Musk.
SpaceX landed Starship upper stage for the first time in the Indian Ocean during its fourth test flight in June.

Among them, the Starship rocket of 400 feet in height and the Heavy booster promises to do "significant upgrades" on the ship with flight 7. The changes include the redesigned flaps, larger propellant tanks, and most up-to-date thermal protection.