The “flaps” are small wings attached to the side of the Starship vehicle meant to brace the winds of reentry and help slow the vehicle down. The company had also removed some protective shielding off the vehicle to see whether the Starship could survive without it. Starship made a safe landing in the Indian Ocean and remained intact despite the rough landing trajectory. “Turns out the vehicle had more capability than our calculations predicted, and that is why we test like we fly,” SpaceX engineer Kate Tice said on the livestream for the event. Developing Starship, a reusable launch system This uncrewed trial marked the fastest turnaround time yet in SpaceX’s test campaign for Starship, which will play a key role in NASA’s cornerstone Artemis program. Aiming to put boots on the moon as soon as 2026, the space agency plans to use the rocket’s upper stage, the Starship spacecraft, as a lunar lander ferrying astronauts to the moon’s surface. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson referenced Starship’s significance to the Artemis program when congratulating the company on Tuesday’s test flight. “Congrats to @SpaceX on Starship’s sixth test flight. Exciting to see the Raptor engine restart in space — major progress towards orbital flight. Starship’s success is #Artemis’ success. Together, we will return humanity to the Moon & set our sights on Mars,” Nelson posted on X after Starship’s splashdown. A still from SpaceX's live stream on Tuesday shows the Super Heavy rocket booster heading back to Earth for splashdown after the test flight team deemed conditions were not favorable for a catch attempt by the "chopsticks," or mechanical arms of a launch tower. SpaceX The goal of these test flights is to hash out how SpaceX might one day recover and rapidly refly Super Heavy boosters and Starship spacecraft for future missions. Quickly reusing rocket parts is considered essential to drastically reducing the time and cost of getting cargo — or ships of people — to space. The Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, said it did not have to undertake the lengthy process of reviewing a launch license alteration because the flight path of this week’s flight was expected to closely mimic an earlier test. “The FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental and other licensing requirements for the suborbital test flight,” the agency said in a statement. “The FAA determined the changes requested by SpaceX for (Tuesday’s test flight) are within the scope of what has been previously analyzed.” Crew-8 astronauts (from L) Roscosmos cosmonaut and mission specialist Alexander Grebenkin, NASA astronaut and pilot Michael Barratt, NASA astronaut and commander Matthew Dominick and NASA astronaut and mission specialist Jeanette Epps pause before heading to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on March 3, 2024. Three US astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut are set to launch for the International Space Station on March 3 at 10:53pm (0353 GMT, March 4). They will conduct over 200 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations during their planned 180-day mission to the International Space Station. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP) (Photo by GREGG NEWTON/AFP via Getty Images) Gregg Newton/AFP/Getty Images