SpaceX is also flying rudimentary catch fittings on Starship to test their thermal performance on reentry. The ship will fly a more demanding trajectory during descent to probe the structural limits of the redesigned flaps at the point of maximum entry dynamic pressure, according to SpaceX.

SpaceX’s most ambitious Starship flight yet will see reused hardware, the deployment of 10 fake satellites and another attempt to catch the booster with “chopsticks”

SpaceX also plans to perform a deployment during the journey, and Starship will carry a payload of ten Starlink simulators – similar in size and weight to next-generation Starlink satellites. The payload will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and splash down in the Indian Ocean.

After separation from the upper stage, the lower-stage booster will attempt to return to Starbase to land at its launch tower. The company achieved the feat during the fifth flight of Starship on Oct. 13 but was unable to repeat it on the sixth flight in November. That booster diverted to a water landing in the Gulf of Mexico.

US space company SpaceX has announced that major upgrades have been made to the latest prototype of its spacecraft, the Starship. This is expected to conduct a test flight in the near future, perhaps as soon as Friday.

SpaceX rolled the upper stage of its Starship megarocket out to the pad this morning (Jan. 9) ahead of its planned Jan. 13 test flight.

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