On June 6th, 2024, the fourth orbital test flight of the Starship successfully lifted off at 07:50 a.m. CT (08:50 a.m. EDT; 06:50 PDT) from SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas. This test was the first time the Starship (SN29) and Super Heavy (BN11) prototypes reentered Earth’s atmosphere and landed successfully. While the SN29 conducted a powered vertical landing before splashing down in the Indian Ocean, the BN11 executed a similar powered landing before splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico. In a recent tweet, Elon Musk shared a photo of the BN11 booster being pulled out of the sea.
News of the retrieval was posted via Elon Musk’s X account, where he hinted at the possibility of refurbishment and reuse, writing, “Fixer upper.” In addition to being the first flight test in which both vehicles made it back in one piece, this flight was also the first time that a Super Heavy booster simulated a landing at a “virtual tower.” In the future, SpaceX intends to retrieve its boosters by “catching” them with the Orbital Launch Mount tower at their Starbase facility. This is expected to occur for the first time during the fifth integrated flight test, scheduled for no earlier than late November 2024.
The flight test was originally scheduled for September but was delayed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) until November due to environmental complaints and the licensing process. According to statements by the FAA and SpaceX, the company was already authorized to conduct multiple flights using the same mission profile they followed for the fourth flight test. However, adding an attempted “catch” has led the FAA to conduct a more thorough review of the flight and the launch facility.