Flight 4: Controlled splashdowns for ship and booster
June 6, 2024 turned return-and-reuse from a slide into a demonstration — soft splashdowns for Super Heavy in the Gulf and Starship in the Indian Ocean.
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.
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 — but it was the controlled booster return the catch attempt would require.
Ship through reentry
Ship 29 made it through entry plasma, flap control, and a landing burn to soft splash — 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.