Flight 3: Into space, through coast, and into reentry data
March 14, 2024 pushed past separation into boostback, a first booster landing-burn attempt, ship coast objectives, and the program’s first serious reentry look before the ship was lost on the way home.
What happened
Flight 3 lifted off at 8:25 a.m. CT on March 14, 2024. Another 33-engine ascent and hot-staging put Ship 28 on a space trajectory while Booster 10 turned around for the Gulf.
The flight stretched into new regimes: a first Super Heavy landing-burn attempt, ship coast demonstrations, and atmospheric entry before the ship was lost on return.
Booster return attempt
After separation, Booster 10 completed its flip and boostback toward a Gulf splashdown zone.
Several engines lit for the first landing burn before a RUD ended the booster flight around 462 meters altitude, just under seven minutes after liftoff.
Ship coast and reentry
Ship 28 gathered coast and early reentry data that earlier flights never reached — including payload-bay and propellant-transfer related demos on the timeline.
The vehicle did not survive the return, but the telemetry shaped heat-shield and attitude-control work that paid off on Flight 4.