[SpaceX, Photo Credit to Pixabay]

SpaceX conducted its sixth Starship flight test on November 19, 2024, at its Starbase facility, drawing enormous attention as the company evaluated various safety and performance upgrades.

At 5 p.m EST,  a 30-foot-wide, 397-foot-tall colossal Starship with its 33 Raptor engines gulping 40,000 pounds of liquid oxygen and methane fuel per second blasted off from Starbase, the company’s test facility near Brownsville, Texas.

The vehicle climbed eastward over the Gulf of Mexico, trailing a swirling cloud of exhaust and sparkling white-hot flame.

Two to three minutes after liftoff, the Super Heavy booster began its return course toward Starbase. 

Following the original flight plan, the booster was supposed to return to its launch pad to be caught by the catch tower.

However, SpaceX's official website reported that the booster aborted its catch attempt due to a programmed systems check. 

Despite this, Starship successfully separated from the booster and achieved its expected trajectory.

The spacecraft then demonstrated a successful single methane-burning Raptor engine reignition, proving its deorbit capabilities.

The Super Heavy-Starship is the centerpiece of Musk's vision to develop a fully reusable heavy-lift rocket. 

Achieving success in this test flight is considered an impactful outcome for SpaceX. 

A successful test flight provides valuable insights into the flight environment, aligning with SpaceX’s goal for the spaceship to achieve consistent return-to-launch-site operations and precise catching capabilities.

This sixth flight test brought the company closer to achieving full system reusability.

President-elect Donald Trump’s presence at the launch drew massive media attention.

He had posted on his social media before the event, saying, "I'm heading to the Great State of Texas to watch the launch of the largest object ever to be elevated, not only to Space, but simply by lifting off the ground.”

Trump’s attendance has been viewed as a sign of his deepening alliance with Musk, who could benefit from Trump's election victory.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX via a post on X and said Starship's in-space engine reignition marked "major progress towards orbital flight.”

The successful completion of this sixth test flight represents another step toward SpaceX’s goal of realizing regular space transportation.