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Watch SpaceX Starship Flight 11’s belly flip maneuver and splashdown

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9 months ago

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SpaceX Starship Splashdown in the Indian Ocean

SpaceX has shared footage of the Starship Flight 11, showing the second stage during a belly flip maneuver and concluding the journey with a splashdown.

Two new clips posted on the social media platform X reveal the second stage descending from the sky on its belly and performing a flip maneuver as it inches closer to the water surface with its flaps. While maintaining its position, the ship slows down the descent and hovers over the ocean before marking a splashdown.

This was a successful test flight for the upper stage, completing many important objectives, including successful hot staging, marking a full ascent phase, deploying its eight Starlink simulators to orbit, followed by a single-engine relight.

Through these events, the ship maintained its trajectory and completed all in-orbit objectives before re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. To be mentioned, SpaceX has intentionally stressed the rocket to test its onboard heat shield tiles and thermal protection system to collect useful data to improve the Starship v3 design.

You should know that this was the final flight for the second-generation ship, and the next time, SpaceX will fly the Starship v3, which has many new upgrades, including new flaps, avionics, better propellant management, and more. Watch the Starship Flight 11 belly flip maneuver video linked below.

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Mannoo specializes in Generative AI, Large Language Model (LLM), and Aerospace Science. Prior to delving into these fields, he was a Python programmer, a game designer, and an Android and iOS app developer with over 5 years of experience. He has prior writing experience in creative writing about smartphones and technology before working at Eonmsk.com. You can explore his X/TWitter and LinkedIn pages or contact him through his email.

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