SpaceX wraps up year with successful 11th flight test

STARBASE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — SpaceX launched its 11th Starship rocket on Monday evening from Starbase.

The launch window was scheduled to open at 6:15 p.m.; however, at 6:23 p.m., Starship lifted off from Starbase on its 11th and possible final flight test of the year.

SpaceX’s primary goal for this launch was to test the vehicle’s dynamics as the engines shut down while it transitions through its different phases.

Additionally, one of the key objectives of the 11th launch was to demonstrate a unique landing burn configuration planned to be used on the next-generation Super Heavy.

The booster used in the 11th launch was also previously used on test flight 8 and launched with 24 flight-proven Raptor engines.

Super Heavy

The first stage of the flight test began with the Super Heavy igniting all of its 33 Raptor engines and ascending over the Gulf.

According to SpaceX, the successful first stage was followed by a hot-staging maneuver, with Starship's upper stage igniting its six Raptor engines to continue its flight in space.

After the stage separation, the Super Heavy booster completed its boostback burn to go back on a course to a pre-planned splashdown zone to the Gulf using 12 of the 13 planned engines.

At approximately 6:31 p.m., the Super Heavy reentered, where it successfully ignited all 13 engines at the start of the landing burn, before transitioning to five engines. It then transitioned to three engines before shutting down its engines and splashing down in the Gulf.

Starship

Following the separation of the Super Heavy and completing a full-duration ascent burn, Starship achieved its planned velocity and trajectory.

According to SpaceX, while coasting through space, Starship had successfully deployed eight Starlink simulators and ignited the third in-space Raptor engine.

When Starship re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, the focus was to gather data on the performance of its heat shield. SpaceX intentionally removed tiles from the Starship to stress-test the vulnerable areas across the ship and its capabilities.

During the final minutes of the flight, the SpaceX team performed a dynamic banking maneuver to mimic the trajectory of future missions returning to Starbase.

According to the SpaceX team, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Starship guided itself using its four flaps to the pre-planned splashdown zone in the Indian Ocean, before executing a landing flip, landing burn and soft splashdown.