Nov 26, 2024 6:35 AM CST 1 minute & 15 seconds read time TL;DR: SpaceX completed its sixth Starship flight, capturing footage of the splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The test flight, despite an aborted booster catch, provided valuable data on thermal protection and flight hardware performance. SpaceX recently completed its sixth flight of Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, and now the company has released awesome footage of Ship splashing down in the Indian Ocean. The Elon Musk-led company recently unlocked a new phase of development following its sixth launch of Starship, which was deemed a successful test flight despite automated health monitoring checks triggering Super Heavy, the booster, to abort a catch on the launch tower. The suborbital flight took place on November 19, and the ship landed off the northwestern coast of Australia. The splashdown moment was captured by a camera floating in the water near the landing zone, which shows the 165-foot-tall upper stage of Starship slowly making a descent by firing its boosters. Notably, Flight 5 was launched during the morning time in Texas, which resulted in a splashdown in the Indian Ocean during the night local time. As for Flight 6, SpaceX conducted the launch during the late afternoon on November 19, resulting in a splashdown during daytime. Why did the company do this? SpaceX simply wanted to get a better look at the reentry of Ship as it made its descent back down to Earth. "Data gathered from the multiple thermal protection experiments, as well as the successful flight through subsonic speeds at a more aggressive angle of attack, provides invaluable feedback on flight hardware performing in a flight environment as we aim for eventual ship return and catch," the company wrote on its website Best Deals: Google Pixel 8a - Unlocked Android Phone Today