SpaceX announced that the fifth Starship flight could take place this week.
Elon Musk's space company has announced that the fifth test flight of the Starship transportation system could take place on Sunday, October 13. SpaceX is awaiting approval from regulatory authorities. The launch window will open at 3:00 PM Moscow time.
2024-10-08 07:29:09https://naked-science.ru/community/995538
As part of the new tests, another step will be taken towards the complete and rapid reuse of Starship. The main objective of the flight will be to attempt to return the Super Heavy booster to the launch pad and capture it with the service tower's "arms," as well as re-enter the atmosphere and land the Starship in the Indian Ocean, similar to the previous test.
Additionally, SpaceX noted that engineers have completely redesigned the spacecraft's thermal protection system, utilizing next-generation tiles. These should enable its reusability.