Flight report · June 6, 2024
Flight 4: Controlled splashdowns for ship and booster
June 6, 2024 turned return and reuse from a slide into a demonstration. Super Heavy soft-splashed in the Gulf and Starship soft-splashed in the Indian Ocean.
Starship / Super Heavy · Orbital Launch Pad 1 · Flight 4 of 14
Outcome
Controlled ship + booster splashdowns
- Ship
- Ship 29Success
- Expended · Expended after flight
- Booster
- Booster 11Success
- Expended · Expended after flight
Key figures
- Liftoff
- 7:50 a.m. CT · Jun 6
- Pad
- Orbital Launch Pad 1
- Booster result
- Gulf soft splash
- Ship result
- Indian Ocean soft splash
01 / 03
The flight
What happened
Flight 4 launched at 7:50 a.m. CT on June 6, 2024 with a blunt goal: fly farther than before and show the control authority needed to bring both stages home on purpose.
After a clean ascent and hot-staging, Booster 11 flew a full return profile to a Gulf soft splashdown, and Ship 29 survived peak heating to a controlled Indian Ocean splashdown.
02 / 03
Booster soft splash
Post-separation, the booster completed flip, boostback, hot-stage adapter jettison, and a landing burn into the water.
It was not a tower catch yet. It was the controlled booster return the catch attempt would require.
03 / 03
Ship through reentry
Ship 29 made it through entry plasma, flap control, and a landing burn to soft splash. It was the clearest proof yet that the heat shield and aero surfaces could finish the job.
Flight 5 would aim the booster at the chopsticks instead of the Gulf.