SN6

SN6 was a prototype spacecraft built by SpaceX as part of the Starship development program. It was the sixth flight-test article in the Starship series and was constructed at SpaceX’s facilities in Boca Chica, Texas. Like its predecessors, SN6 served as a stepping stone to validate a vertical takeoff, controlled flight, and vertical landing of a stainless steel Starship vehicle.

In design terms, SN6 employed a single Raptor engine and used the stainless steel airframe characteristic of Starship prototypes. It was intended as a relatively short, high-velocity test article to demonstrate thrust vectoring, engine performance, and landing control in a near-operational configuration without attempting orbital flight.

SN6 conducted a high-profile test in August 2020, performing a roughly 150-meter hop test. During the flight, SN6 ascended under thrust, executed a controlled descent, and achieved a vertical landing on a prepared pad at the Boca Chica site. The test followed the earlier 150-meter hop conducted by SN5 and contributed to iterative improvements in Starship’s flight control software, propulsion, and propellant management.

After the August 2020 flight, SN6 did not undertake further flight tests. It remains part of the broader Starship test program as an intermediate milestone on the path toward the development of orbital Starship configurations and the Super Heavy booster. See also Starship (spacecraft), Starship development program, Boca Chica.