Title: Kate and Jessica celebrating the success of Starship Flight Test 4 - 06 June 2024.
Starship is the first vehicle capable of making life multi-planetary, fly humans back to the Moon and carry the larges payloads to date, and in the future, further into space.
The primary goal of Starship Flight Test 4 was to get through the extreme heat of re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. SpaceX also attempted fast resetting times to test and fly soon after the last launch to optimise the workflow in preparation of frequent flying required in the future.
The live broadcast on 06 June 2024 was presented by Kate Tice and Jessica Anderson from Hawthorn, California, and Dan Huot from Starbase in Texas.
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Updates
06jun2024: Elon Musk on success of FT4.Background
Review of Flight Test 3.Starship features.
Stages of Flight Test 4.
Flight Test is Go for Launch!.
Starship re-entry.
Plasma.
Starship vs Plasma Saga.
The future of Starship.
UPDATES
Elon Musk on the success of Test 4 – 06 June 2024
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, felt great about Starship’s fourth test and congratulated the SpaceX team for doing such an incredible job.
There were about 16 video feeds, mostly from internal structures that were transmitted live via Starlink showing events that were never witnessed before during re-entry due to communications blackout. Adjustments to Starlink satellites will allow full coverage in future flights.
SpaceX reached two key goals: Achieve a controlled landing of the booster and getting the ship to go through the super-high heating zone at re-entry, maintain control sub-sonically and land with a landing burn within 6km of the planned landing zone.
Musk was surprised by how the SX-300 steel alloy structure of the flap survived such high temperatures after the shield was stripped off by the pressure and heat of re-entry; the flap was still able to function. He was happy to choose stainless steel over Aluminium, Lithium and Carbon for the construction of Starship as those materials would have not stood the heat as the flap did.
At Stargate, the built and launch site in Texas, they learnt to deal with Methane as the main rocket fuel instead of Kerosene or Jet-fuel.
The final goal is to have a booster and rocket to land and be able to fly again with no refurbishment. So far Falcon-9 has accomplished this as the booster is available for flight in less than a week, the capsule is also reused but the upper stage is lost, therefore so far is 80% reusable.
When asked about SpaceX workforce, he said that employees ages range between 18 to 70 years, the company focuses more on the mindset of driving technology to the limit of possibility than on the age or experience of their employees.
Watch the full interview by Ellie in Space (12min) on YouTube (Opens on a new tab).
Elon Musk interviewed by Ellie in Space and sample of X post from Elon. Ellie in Space, YouTube, 2024 (Opens on a new tab).
END of UPDATES
Review of previous Flight Test 3
Starship Flight Test 3 achieved most of its expected goals. It launched on 14th March 2024.
At launch, all engines on the Super-Heavy Booster started successfully at full throttle for 2 minutes and 41 seconds of the ascent and then powered down all but 3 of its engines. At the expected altitude, the Starship, or second stage, ignited its 6 engines for a successful Hot Stage Separation.
The booster completed a flip manoeuvre and ignited 13 of its engines in a Boost-Back-Burn to return to the Gulf of Mexico, but 6 engines shut down unexpectedly and then of the remaining 7, only 2 remained active. Contact was lost at 462 m in altitude, and the booster fell into the ocean. Data analysis suggested that the cause of engine failure was filter blockage in the fuel lines, which were upgraded for the 4th flight test.
Meantime, Starship was propelled by the 6 engines as expected and reached orbit. While coasting, they tested opening and closing the payload door, and practiced transferring propellant between tanks inside the ship. At that stage, the ship’s flaps failed to respond, and the vehicle experienced some unplanned rolling, and the software responded by skipping a burn before attempting re-entry.
As a result, re-entry attitude was only partially gained and unprotected areas of the ship were exposed to extreme heat. At 65km of altitude and 50 minutes into the mission, contact with the vehicle was lost and Starship fell into the sea. Data suggested that failure of the attitude control thrusters located around the ship was caused by valve blockages.
Starship Flight Test 3 flew on 14 March 2024. SpaceX, 2024.
Starship Flight Test 3 launch. SpaceX, 14 March 2024.
Starship Flight Test 3 orbit insertion and booster trail on the background. SpaceX, 14 March 2024.
Test 3 provided the first images of a vehicle travelling during re-entry and showed the aerodynamics of plasma. Travelling at 27,000 km/h, Starship compresses the air in front of it causing the temperature of air to rise and ionise turning into Plasma, which absorbs and reflects radio waves, leading to communication blackout during re-entry.
Starship Flight Test 3 plasma heating up non-protected areas. SpaceX, 14 March 2024.
Starship features
SpaceX has made admirable progress in recovery and reuse of hardware so far, with 316 boosters from Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy missions landing successfully. The programme aims at building reusable rockets that can be ready to launch soon after they landed.
For now, all the materials in these tests were expended, there was no attempt to recover the hardware, which made data the most valued asset emerging from the tests. Data were collected by sensors and broadcasted in real-time from the ship to the ground using the Starlink satellite network. Video was captured by onboard cameras, static cameras on the ground and drone cameras.
To improve communications, Starship carries 4 Starlink terminals to communicate with the largest constellation of highly advanced satellites operating in low orbit around the Earth, providing high-speed internet on Earth and now in space.
Starship carries 4 Starlink terminals protected by heat-shield panels (black rectangular structures)for high-speed connection with Starlink satellites. SpaceX, 2024.
The Super Heavy Booster has 2 times the thrust of Saturn 5, the rocket that took astronauts to the Moon. Future models will have 3 times the thrust.
Super Heavy has 4 grill flaps to aerodynamically control the vehicle’s attitude while it descends, a simple and effective technology that allows the booster aim precisely for the landing platform, be it on land or on a sea.
Grid flaps at the top of the Super Heavy Booster are essential for the vehicle’s attitude control.Notice the size compared to workers nearby. SpaceX, 2024.
Grid flaps on the booster at the launchpad. SpaceX, 2024.
Instead of using Kerosene, like other rockets, the Booster and Starship use Liquid Methane as a fuel, and Liquid Oxygen as oxidiser, both are cryogenic and therefore must be kept below zero degrees. Minutes before launch, the spacecraft must be loaded with 4.5 million tonnes of liquid propellent, most of which is used in less than 5 minutes.
Before Starship, large rockets carried most of the fuel in the first stage, which was discarded after reaching orbit. This method of propulsion was replaced by SpaceX for a two propulsion stages, The first state, the Super Heavy Booster still carries most of the propellant but it is now reusable and at the top it carries a stainless steel plate called Hot Stage that serves as an in-flight launch platform for Starship, the second stage, which also contains fuel but in a smaller amount for its own engines used in and out of the atmosphere.
Starship’s heatshield is composed of hexagonal tiles made of LTS 900. Two tiles were purposely removed in Flight Test 4. SpaceX, 2024.
Starship has 18,000 hexagonal ceramic tiles protecting the underbelly of the ship from the heat of re-entry of over 1400 degrees Celsius. The tiles are made of a ceramic called “Low-Temperature Sintered (LTS) 900”, which can be reused several times. On this test, two tiles were removed to measure temperature and determine what happens to materials during re-entry
Starship’s heatshield is composed of hexagonal tiles made of LTS 900. Two tiles were purposely removed in Flight Test 4. SpaceX, 2024.
Starship is protected by its heatshield from the energy generated by friction on re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Artist impression, SpaceX, 2024.
In the evolution of rockets, Starship is the larges rocket built by SpaceX so far with a height of 121 metres, 30% more than Falcon mission rockets and 3 times bigger than Han Solo’s fictional Millennium Falcon (35 m). The new spaceship is 60 times taller than a 2 m human.
Heights compared from a tall man at 2 metres (left) to the Millenium Falcon at 35m, the Falcon rocket at 70m,and Starship, the tallest rocket, at 121 metres. SpaceX, 2024.
Starship Highlights
Raptor is a reusable methane-oxygen stage combustion engine with a thrust of 230 tf (tonne-force), twice than Falcon 9 Merlin engine. It measures 3.1 m in height and a diameter of 1.3m.
Everyday Astronaut, 09 July 2022.
Tim Dodd from Everyday Astronaut interviewed Elon Musk at Starbase in 2022.
In a 40-minute interview, Musk discusses technical details of the new Raptor 2 engines and compares them to previous models.
Super Heavy is the launch system’s booster that carries 33 Raptor engines, producing a total thrust of 7,590 tf at lift off. Multiple engines allow for better control of thrust for situations that require less power. The booster is reusable and is designed to land at the launch site. It holds 3,400 tonnes of propellent and measures 71 m in height and 9 m in diameter.
Starship is a reusable spacecraft that contains a payload section and a crew section that will carry both into orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship has 6 engines, 3 Raptors for use in the atmosphere and 3 Raptor Vacuum (RVac) that work best in the vacuum of space. The spacecraft is designed to launch and land vertically on any hard surface like the booster and can also be used to transport cargo within the atmosphere to distant places on Earth in short times. It has a payload capacity of 150 tonnes, holds 1,200 tonnes of propellant and its 6 raptor engines generate 1,500 tonnes of thrust. It measures 50 m in height and 9 m in diameter.
The full Starship system’s two stages separate in mid flight thanks to a steel plate at the top of super heavy that serves as an in-flight launch platform.
Models of main parts of the Starship system, not at scale. SpaceX, 2024.
Stages of Flight Test 4
- Launch: Took place on 06 June 2024 from Starbase, at Boca Chica, Texas, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
- Ascent: The Super Heavy Booster’s 33 Raptor engines start and propel the spacecraft into the sky for 2.5 minutes.
- Stage separation: Booster engines cut-off except for 3 centre ones while the 6 Raptor engines on the Starship ignite to push itself away from the booster in a Hot Separation.
- Booster flip: The Super Heavy Booster Flips and performs a Boost Back Burn to return to the surface.
- Hot stage jettison: The Booster releases the Hot Stage platform that protected it from the Starship’s engines.
- Booster landing test: The Booster guides itself with its hypersonic Grid Fins to attempt a water landing on the Gulf of Mexico.
- Orbit insertion: Starship’s engines remain lit for 6 minutes to reach Orbit Insertion.
- Coasting: Starship Coasts for 40 minutes with engines switched off, reaching a peak altitude of 214 km.
- Re-entryStarship attempts a Controlled Re-entry maintaining attitude to keep shield forward.
- Starship landing test: Flip manoeuvre close to surface and a Landing burn before splashing down in the Indian Ocean.
Sketches of the flight plan
The following diagrams show the stages planned for Flight Test 4 and the location in relation to the launch site and the expected water landing locations.
Within the first 3 minutes from launch the rocket ascends and reaches the separation stage while it flies over the Gulf of Mexico.
Starship Flight Test 4 Stages: Launch, Ascent and Stage Separation over the Gulf of Mexico. SpaceX, 2024.
After Stage Separation the booster returns to the ground with a Flip to change attitude and a Boost Back Burn, followed by Jettison of the Hot Stage plate over the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile, Starship continues ascending with its own Ascent Burn towards orbit.
Starship Flight Test 4 Stages: After Stage Separation the booster returns to the ground andStarship continues ascending over the Gulf of Mexico. SpaceX, 2024.
Superheavy returns to the Gulf of Mexico, aiming for a particular spot to ignite a landing burn to attempts a water landing. This time there will be no landing platform as the goal is solely to test the vehicle’s capabilities.
Meantime, Starship reaches orbit insertion and coasts in orbit for 40 minutes flying over the Atlantic Ocean.
Starship Flight Test 4 Stages: Booster’s water landing in the Gulf of Mexico,while Starship reaches orbit and coasts over the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX, 2024.
Following a Re-entry Burn, Starship assumes re-entry attitude to face the atmosphere with its heatshield forward. Once it passes the hottest it slows down and as it approaches the surface flips to a vertical position and performs a landing burn before water landing on the Indian Ocean.
Starship Flight Test 4 Stages: Re-entry into the atmosphere and water landing on the Indian Ocean. SpaceX, 2024.
Flight Test 4 is Go for Launch!
Four minutes before launch, Weather, Range and Vehicle integrity were within acceptable values. Winds were low and the temperature was 27 degrees Celsius. Fuel tanks were 91-96% full of liquid Oxygen (LOX) and liquid Methane (CH4).
Starship at the launchpad, environmental measurements are positive and fuel is almost full at 4 minutes to launch. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
When countdown reached 00.00, Starship launched igniting all 33 Raptor engines. A few seconds after, one of the engines failed causing a loss of 230 tonnes of thrust (tf), leaving the booster with 7,360 tonnes of thrust, which were evidently sufficient to continue with the ascent.
Starship Launch at T: 00.00.00. All engines alight. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship Launch at T: 00.00.01. All engines alight. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship Launch at T: 00.00.11. One engine failed. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
As Starship continued its ascent, the spacecraft crossed 10 km of altitude at a speed of over 1,000 km/h on the first minute of flight
Starship Ascent at T: 00.00.14. 32 engines running. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship Ascent at T: 00.01.08. View from onboard cameras installed at the top of the booster andon the rear edge of Starship’s top wing. 32 engines running. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Separation took place 2 min 50 sec into the flight with Main Engine on the booster cutting off and ignition of all 6 raptor engines on Starship to lift her from the Hot Stage plate installed at the top of the Super Heavy booster. The booster had exhausted most of its propellant.
Interestingly, the images showed a separation burn but the graphic doesn’t show ignition of Starship’s engines until later. It is possible that a delay in updating the graphic may explain this discrepancy, as it is unlikely that separation was achieved with explosive bolts as in other systems.
Starship Separation at T: 00.02.54 marked by Main Engine Cut Off (MECO), leaving 3 engines running on the booster.Ignition of the 6 engines on Starship. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship Separation at T: 00.02.55. Separation is confirmed. Booster running on 3 engines.The graphic does not show the evident activity of Starship’s engines. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Super Heavy ignited 13 engines as it changed direction and jettisoned the Hot Stage installed at the top revealing the apex of the fuel tank. The cameras from this section showed a magnificent view of the thin atmosphere surrounding our planet. Meanwhile, all engines on Starship fired to gain more speed and altitude.
Starship Ascent at T: 00.03.19. Super Heavy prepares return to the surface.13 engines ignited on the booster and all 6 on Starship. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Super Heavy jettisons the Hot Stage plate at T: 00.04.11.All engines switched off on the booster and all alight on Starship. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Super Heavy’s Return at T: 00.00.11. View of Earth from atop the booster.All engines switched off on the booster and all alight on Starship. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Super Heavy approached the surface under full control and fired a Landing Burn metres from the surface at the Gulf of Mexico. The vehicle assumed a vertical attitude before water landing. A successful manoeuvre that in the future will take place on a floating landing platform like Falcon 9 boosters. On this test, the booster sank into the sea.
Super Heavy Landing Burn at T: 00.07.22. Super Heavy fired 3 engines for a landing burn metres above the seaat the Gulf of Mexico. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Super Heavy Water Landing at T: 00.07.32. Flames on the water surface as the booster sinks into the seaat the Gulf of Mexico. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Super Heavy Water Landing celebrations at T: 00.07.43. SpaceX staff celebrate their successproven by a flawless water landing. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship's re-entry
Starship continued its ascent up to 159 km in altitude, reaching speeds of around 26,500 Km/h by the time the fuel was exhausted. After coasting for 40 minutes, and doing some internal testing, the spacecraft commenced its reinsertion into the atmosphere, reducing its altitude but gaining speed.
As Starship met increasing concentrations of air particles creating friction against the side protected by the heatshield, temperatures increased to more than 1,400 degrees Celsius, creating the glowing plasma of re-entry.
Starship Cruising T: 00.09.02. View of the Earth’s atmosphere from an onboard camera while cruising in orbit. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship Cruising T: 00.38.22. View of the tail flap from an onboard camera before re-entry. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship Re-entry T: 00.45.28. Plasma formation as the heatshield hits the atmosphere. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Plasma
Plasma is the 4th state of mater after solid, liquid and gas. Plasma is made of gas particles that have been ionised. This means that high levels of energy caused a separation of the Atom’s Electrons from their Protons. Electrons have a negative charge, while protons, which form the nucleus, have a positive charge and are known as ions. This separation, known as Ionisation, forms Plasma, a sub-atomic soup made of detached ions and electrons.
Plasma is rare on Earth but very common in the Universe. The Sun and other stars are composed of 99.9% plasma, even the space between celestial objects is not empty but contains weak plasma.
Plasma is an excellent conductor of electricity and interacts with the electromagnetic energy around objects in space. For example, when the electromagnetic fields of the Sun and the Earth collide, a phenomenon called Magnetic Reconnection pushes particles of plasma around the poles triggering Aurora Borealis.
Magnetic Reconnection is the explosive re-alignment of magnetic field boundaries or lines that become entangled. Plasma is generated in this way around the Earth and by the Sun’s solar flares.
Learn more about Plasma and NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMM), Parker Solar Probe (PSP), Themes-Artemis and Voyager that measure magnetic fields and particles around the Earth on the following video:
Starship vs Plasma Saga
The intense heat resulting from friction at re-entry generated an expected temperature peak. Re-entry is traditionally known as a period of communications blackout because plasma interferes with data transmission to the ground. This was the first time the formation of plasma was witnessed live thanks to data transmission via Starlink satellites. The heatshield protected the Starship’s body and flaps throughout re-entry
Starship Re-entry at T: 00.47.52. Plasma generation intensifies. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship Re-entry at T: 00.48.19. View of the rear flap as Plasma heats-up the ceramic hexagons. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship Re-entry at T: 00.51.46. Plasma is seen enveloping the bottom, flaps and the back of the spacecraft. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship Re-entry at T: 00.54.18. Notice plasma flowing behind and through the hinge of the flap. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship Re-entry at T: 00.55.11. Close-up of the posterior flap with plasma at the hinge. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
The live stream from the camera pointing at Starship’s rear flap showed dramatic images of an imminent failure. As the spacecraft cleared the area of maximum heat, the temperatures were still high enough to break through the ceramic tiles at the weakest point, the flap’s hinge.
As Starship crossed the atmosphere at 56km of altitude, it was free-falling at 16,400 km/h when the attachment of the flap began to melt.
Starship Re-entry at T: 00.57.17. Plasma appears on the unprotected side of the flap’s hinge. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship Re-entry at T: 00.57.23. A hole develops at the hinge of the flap as the stainless-steel melts. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship Re-entry at T: 00.57.53. The hole expands to half the length of the flap’s attachment. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship’s flap continued to hold its position despite being partly destroyed.
The flap began to separate from the ship’s body and melted particles flew up covering the lens of the camera. Eventually, the camera’s lens cracked after being hit by flying debris and due to the intense heat.
Starship Re-entry at T: 00.58.07. The last clear image showing the melting of the flap as particles begin to fly out. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship Re-entry at T: 00.58.22.Extensive destruction of the flap’s edge and hinge with debris obscuring the camera’s view. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
The camera’s lens cracked from a hit by flying debris and due to the intense heat as Starship continued to fall.
The temperature decreased when Starship reached altitudes below 50Km, and amazingly, when the spacecraft needed to change attitude to prepare for vertical landing, the half-burnt flap moved, and the spacecraft completed the turn to vertical to prepare for landing.
Starship Re-entry at T: 01.05.54. Even half-melted by plasma, the flap worked, and Starship flipped to a vertical position.Starship kept going, just like "The Terminator". SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Starship achieved vertical position and fired a Landing Burn before a controlled Water-Landing, which was the maximum achievement culminating Flight Test 4.
Staff at SpaceX celebrated the success of their work. All the teams exploded with cheers lauder than ever before.
The completion of the test marks the beginning of the next chapter for the programme, Controlled Vertical Landing that will be a feat of precision and an essential element for re-usability of spacecraft in the future
SpaceX staff celebrates the success of their work with the completion of a flawless Flight Test 4.SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Live-streamed broadcast
The live-streamed broadcast of Flight Test 4 was presented and commented by Kate Tice, Senior Quality Engineering Manager and Jessica Anderson, Manufacturing Engineering Manager at SpaceX, based in Hawthorn, California, and Dan Huot from the Communications team based at Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas.
Kate Tice and Jessica Anderson from California, and Dan Huot from Texas,presented the live-streamed broadcast of Flight Test 4. SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
Watch the 2hr live stream at SpaceX:
Link to Starship’s Fourth Flight Test page at SpaceX (Opens on a new tab). SpaceX, 06 June 2024.
The future of Starship
While cruising in orbit, Flight Test 4 tested fuel transfer internally, which in the future will allow on orbit refuelling that will be essential for space exploration so that spacecraft will launch with sufficient fuel to make it to orbit and then re-load their tanks for space travel.
In the future on-orbit refuelling will facilitate space exploration. SpaceX, 2024.
SpaceX will provide transport for NASA’s Artemis programme that will bring humans back to the Moon to create a moon habitat.
The first part of this project was the Crew Dragon Spacecraft mission which in 2020 carried two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). That was the first orbital flight launched from the USA since the decommission of the Space Shuttle in 2011 and the first flight operated by a commercial provider.
Starship will land on the Moon where humans will build a habitat in preparation for future exploration of other planets. SpaceX, 2024.
In the Summer of 2024, the Crew Dragon will carry the first Polaris Dawn mission that will attempt to reach the highest apogee ever flown by a spacecraft and perform an extra-vehicular activity (EVA) using the newly designed SpaceX Spacesuits. The third Polaris Dawn mission will be the first crewed Starship flight.
Polaris Dawn will have a private crew consisting of American citizens currently in training: Anna Menon, engineer who worked for NASA; Scott Poteet, retired pilot; Jared Isaacman, entrepreneur, pilot and philanthropist; and Sarah Gillis, engineer.
Polaris Dawn mission crew: Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis. SpaceX, 2024.
END of Article: Starship Flight Test 4 - 06 June 2024.
REFERENCES
» NASA (2023) What is Plasma. NASA Goddard (10 March 2023). [Online video]. Available at YouTube. Accessed: 20 June. 2024.
» Ruzic D (2023) What is Plasma. Prof David Ruzic, Univ. Illinois, USA. (14 May 2019). [Online video]. Available at YouTube. Accessed: 20 June. 2024.
» Sheriff E (2024) Exclusive: Elon Musk discusses Starship's next launch. Ellie in Space. (07 June 2024). [Online video]. Available at YouTube. Accessed: 16 June. 2024.
» SpaceX (2024) Starship’s Fourth Flight Test. (06 June 2024). [Online video]. Available at SpaceX. Accessed: 06 June. 2024.
» Wikipedia (2024) SpaceX Starship [Online article]. Available at Wikipedia.org. Accessed: 18 March 2024.
