Flight 6: In-space Raptor relight and ship splashdown

Flight 6 left Starbase on November 19, 2024 aiming to stretch both stages further toward full reuse. The plan included a second tower-catch attempt.

Ascent and separation were nominal. The booster was diverted from a catch to a pre-planned ocean landing after catch-tower damage during liftoff tripped return criteria. It was still a controlled return, just not to the chopsticks.

Ship 31 completed ascent onto the expected trajectory and successfully reignited a single Raptor in space. That is a core building block for future deorbit burns on orbital missions.

Starlink-relayed views followed the ship through a more aggressive entry angle of attack and another soft splashdown, with heat-shield experiments along the way.

Catching every booster is the headline. Knowing when not to catch one is part of the same system.

Flight 6’s ship relight and thermal data kept the upper-stage recovery path moving even while booster reuse stayed conditional on health checks.