Under what condition might SpaceX intentionally target an ocean splashdown for the Super Heavy booster during test flights?

Answer

If flight test objectives prioritize gathering data on atmospheric reentry or staging events

For early integrated flight tests, the primary goal is often data acquisition, sometimes meaning deliberately targeting an ocean splashdown if hardware preservation is secondary to gathering reentry data.

Under what condition might SpaceX intentionally target an ocean splashdown for the Super Heavy booster during test flights?

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