SpaceX achieves first soft splashdown of Starship and Super Heavy Booster on Flight 4 mission
In just over a year, SpaceX has launched a fourth test mission of its massive Starship rocket from its southern Texas development facility, Starbase. The latest mission, known as Flight 4, marks a significant step towards the goal of creating a mostly reusable rocket. Unlike its predecessors, Flight 4 achieved a soft splashdown of both the Super Heavy Booster (Booster 11) and the Starship upper stage (Ship 29). The launch took place at 7:50 a.m. CDT (8:50 a.m. EDT, 1250 UTC), close to the beginning of a 120-minute window.
On the preceding Wednesday, SpaceX stacked Ship 29 atop Booster 11, creating the 121-meter (397 feet) Starship rocket. Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder, highlighted the mission's primary goal of achieving deeper atmospheric reentry during max heating in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on June 1. Following the mission, Musk celebrated the Starship's reentry despite the loss of many tiles and damage to a flap.
During the third flight, the upper stage of Starship encountered uncontrollable rolling, preventing the relight of one of its six Raptor engines. However, due to its connection to the Starlink satellite internet network, the rocket streamed high-definition camera views of its reentry through a plasma blanket. SpaceX identified the roll control issue as likely caused by clogged valves and has since added additional roll control thrusters to future Starships for improved redundancy.
The previous Super Heavy Booster also experienced issues, prematurely shutting down six of its 13 Raptor engines during the boostback burn and failing to perform the landing burn. SpaceX attributed this to filter blockages that led to a loss of inlet pressure in the engines' oxygen turbopumps. For Flight 4 and beyond, additional hardware has been added to improve propellant filtration.
With Flight 4's success, Musk teased an ambitious milestone for Flight 5: catching the Super Heavy Booster using the launch tower’s "chopsticks." This mission is critical for both SpaceX and NASA, as Starship is set to play a central role in the Artemis 3 mission targeted for September 2026. Lisa Watson-Morgan, manager of NASA’s Human Landing System program, noted significant improvements in the Starship’s development and consistency of its engines.
Despite the upper stage's failure to relight during Flight 3, Watson-Morgan expressed confidence in achieving this milestone in the near future. NASA is closely monitoring the maturation of SpaceX’s Raptors, incorporating changes and modifications into an updated build sequence.
A notable success of the recent missions was the propellant transfer demonstration, fulfilling a $53.2 million Tipping Point contract with NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. This capability is essential for SpaceX’s vision of conducting ship-to-ship propellant transfers, crucial for future Moon and Mars missions.
Part of achieving regular Starship launches includes developing additional launch towers. SpaceX is building a second tower at Starbase and transporting components from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The upcoming Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) public scoping meetings aim to allow around 44 Starship launches annually from Launch Complex 39A.
As part of the Human Landing System development, SpaceX is integrating feedback from NASA’s Astronaut Office to refine vehicle interfaces, control systems, and handle placements. Recent tests with Axiom Space astronauts at SpaceX’s headquarters have validated operational aspects critical for future Moon missions.
SpaceX’s rapid test campaign has significantly reduced turnaround times between launches, demonstrating increasingly efficient operations. The FAA’s approval of specific test-induced damage scenarios for Flight 4 could facilitate faster progress for subsequent missions.
In summary, SpaceX’s fourth test flight of Starship marks a major achievement, showcasing advances in reusable rocket technology and laying the groundwork for future missions, including the ambitious Artemis program aimed at returning humans to the Moon.
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