Launch is midnight UK time onwards.
2330 UTC/0030 BST.
Booster to recover back to Boca Chica for a water landing:
"Following stage separation, the booster will flip in a controlled direction before initiating its boostback burn. This will be achieved by blocking several of the vents on the vehicle’s hotstage adapter, causing the thrust from Starship’s engines to push the booster in a known direction. Previous booster flips went in a randomized direction based on a directional push from small differences in thrust from Starship’s upper stage engines at ignition. Flipping in a known direction will require less propellant to be held in reserve, enabling the use of more propellant during ascent to enable additional payload mass to orbit.".....
"The booster will attempt to fly at a higher angle of attack during its descent. By increasing the amount of atmospheric drag on the vehicle, a higher angle of attack can result in a lower descent speed which in turn requires less propellant for the initial landing burn.".....
"One of the three center engines used for the final phase of landing will be intentionally disabled to gather data on the ability for a backup engine from the middle ring to complete a landing burn. The booster will then transition to only two center engines for the end of the landing burn, with shutdown occurring while still above the Gulf of America and the vehicle expected to make a hard splashdown."
Starship is heading for the Indian Ocean again for another splashdown NW of Australia. Test is stressing the Starship to the limit and may, again, result to failure during re-entry, but is designed to give confidence for an attempted catch on the next flight.
"The Starship upper stage will again target multiple in-space objectives, including the deployment of eight Starlink simulators, similar in size to next-generation Starlink satellites. The Starlink simulators will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon entry. A relight of a single Raptor engine while in space is also planned. The flight test includes several experiments focused on enabling Starship’s upper stage to return to the launch site.
A significant number of tiles have been removed from Starship to stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle during reentry. Multiple metallic tile options, including one with active cooling, will test alternative materials for protecting Starship during reentry. On the sides of the vehicle, functional catch fittings are installed and will test the fittings’ thermal and structural performance. The entire ship's tile line also received a smoothed and tapered edge to address hot spots observed during reentry on Starship’s sixth flight test.
Starship’s reentry profile is designed to intentionally stress the structural limits of the upper stage’s rear flaps while at the point of maximum entry dynamic pressure."
https://www.spacex.com/launches/miss...-flight-9&s=09