Splashdown of both the booster and the ship during IFT-6 🚀 #spacexstarship

In Starship’s sixth integrated flight test, both Super Heavy and the Starship upper stage nailed beautiful soft splashdowns, the booster in the Gulf of Mexico and the Ship in the Indian Ocean.

Unlike the historic chopstick catch at the launch tower during IFT-5, SpaceX chose the conservative soft splashdown route this time.

Automated health checks on the tower’s critical hardware (triggered by a comms antenna that got bent during liftoff) flagged an issue, so the team erred on the side of caution and diverted the booster for a safe powered landing burn in the ocean.

Safety and data first, always.

This flight packed in some massive milestones too: the very first in-space Raptor engine relight (proving the deorbit burn capability), a steeper reentry with higher peak heating to test new heat shield materials, the first-ever daylight Starship splashdown, and even a banana riding along as the zero-g indicator.

Every flight gets us closer to full, rapid reusability.

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Видео Splashdown of both the booster and the ship during IFT-6 🚀 #spacexstarship канала The Space Road