SpaceX Starship integrated flight test 4
Fourth launch of SpaceX Starship / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The SpaceX Starship integrated flight test 4 (IFT-4) was the fourth integrated flight test of a prototype Starship launch vehicle, the world's most powerful rocket.[5] The prototype vehicles flown were the Starship Ship 29 upper-stage and Super Heavy Booster 11.[6][7] SpaceX performed the flight test on June 6, 2024.
Names | Integrated Flight Test-4 |
---|---|
Mission type | Flight test |
Operator | SpaceX |
Mission duration | 1 hour, 6 minutes, 10 seconds |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Starship Ship 29 |
Spacecraft type | SpaceX Starship |
Manufacturer | SpaceX |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | June 6, 2024, 12:50:00 UTC (7:50 am CDT)[1] |
Rocket | SpaceX Super Heavy Booster 11 |
Launch site | Starbase |
End of mission | |
Destroyed | June 6, 2024, 13:56:10 UTC (08:56:10 am CDT)[1] |
Orbital parameters | |
Regime | Suborbital[2] |
Apoapsis altitude | 213 km[3] |
Inclination | 26.8°[4] |
SpaceX Starship flights |
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.[8]
This marks the first integrated test flight where both Starship and Super Heavy successfully reentered and performed a simulated powered vertical landing over the ocean surface.