SPACEX ISN’T SCREWING AROUND WITH TOMORROW’S STARSHIP TEST FLIGHT:

Starship’s upper stage will fly the same suborbital trajectory as the previous flight test, with splashdown targeted in the Indian Ocean.

An additional objective for this flight will be attempting an in-space burn using a single Raptor engine, further demonstrating the capabilities required to conduct a ship deorbit burn prior to orbital missions.

Several thermal protection experiments & operational changes will test the limits of Starship’s capabilities & generate flight data to inform plans for ship catch and reuse.

The flight test will assess new secondary thermal protection materials &will have entire sections of heat shield tiles removed on either side of the ship in locations being studied for catch-enabling hardware on future vehicles.

The ship also will intentionally fly at a higher angle of attack in the final phase of descent, purposefully stressing the limits of flap control to gain data on future landing profiles.

Plus: “Depending on how well Flight 6 goes & the launch site survives the launch & catch attempt, there may be a slightly longer period of time between flight 6 & flight 7. This is also due to the move to a completely new V2 Starship design.”

Traditional space launch’s destructor has not yet taken its final form.