First successful instance of both stages of a launch vehicle returned for a controlled landing

On 06/06/2024, SpaceX conducted the fourth integrated flight test of its Starship launch system, marking the first time both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage returned to Earth for controlled soft splashdowns. The test lifted off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, using the Super Heavy booster to send the Starship spacecraft on a suborbital trajectory. After stage separation, the booster executed a boostback burn and began a guided descent toward the Gulf of Mexico. Approximately seven minutes after liftoff, the Super Heavy performed a landing burn and achieved a controlled, vertical soft splashdown in the Gulf, demonstrating improved guidance and engine relight capability compared with earlier flights. The Starship upper stage continued toward space and coasted along a trajectory across the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. During reentry, the vehicle encountered intense heating and sustained visible damage to several heat shield tiles and portions of its forward flaps. Despite the damage, Starship maintained attitude control through plasma blackout and continued its descent. About 65 minutes after launch, the spacecraft performed its first successful landing flip maneuver followed by a landing burn, resulting in a controlled soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean west of Australia. Both stages remained intact long enough to complete their planned flight profiles, meeting the primary objectives of the test. The IFT-4 mission demonstrated several firsts for the Starship system, including successful booster boostback and landing burn, sustained control of the upper stage through reentry, and controlled splashdowns for both stages within a single mission. The test followed three earlier integrated flights in April 2023, November 2023, and March 2024, each progressively expanding performance envelopes. Data gathered from IFT-4 contributed to subsequent Starship tests, including later attempts at booster recovery and improved thermal protection performance.