Next Generation Ship to Take Flight, Attempt to Catch and Reuse

SpaceX is gearing up to send Starship on its seventh test flight with a new and improved ship. The upcoming experiment will include multiple reentries working towards catching and reusing the ship, as well as launching and returning the Super Heavy booster.

Test flight seven will feature several improvements to the Starship upper stage. Its forward flaps were shrunk and moved further from the heat shield in an attempt to reduce their thermal exposure. SpaceX also upgraded the propulsion system by adding 25 percent more propellant volume and a new fuel feedline system. These expand the ship’s performance and range capabilities.

The vehicle received some shiny new avionics in the redesign, giving additional redundancy and mission flexibility. Engineers installed a more powerful flight computer, integrated antennas, and more cameras, streaming over 120 Mbps of high-def footage for the team to monitor real-time.

Starship will deploy 10 Starlink simulators on the mission that are similar in both size and weight to the next-gen Starlink satellite design. This will be the ship’s first satellite deployment exercise.

The flight test will focus primarily on coordinating the ship and its booster’s return. In the sixth flight test, on November 19, 2024, the Super Heavy booster was unable to return to the base for catching due to communication errors with the tower. It instead performed a controlled landing in the Gulf of Mexico and the ship splashed down in the Indian Ocean as planned. 

SpaceX is eager to get the booster catch right on flight test seven, and has made numerous hardware changes to the launch and catch tower to make it possible. Sensors on the chopstick-like tower, also called Mechazilla, got some extra protection to prevent a repeat of the previous test.

Even with the upgrades, the Super Heavy booster catch could still be aborted. If automated checks show errors or the booster is not manually told to attempt the catch before the boostback burn is completed, it will move to a default trajectory and splash down in the Gulf of Mexico.

“We accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public and our team, and the return will only take place if conditions are right,” SpaceX stated.

FMI: www.spacex.com