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WASHINGTON: The FAA on Wednesday granted SpaceX a license to conduct a test launch of the company’s Starship rocket system from Texas, according to the agency’s website, paving the way for another early demonstration of a crucial spacecraft for the Elon Musk’s satellite launch business and NASA’s lunar program.
“The FAA determined that SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which oversees launch site security, said in a statement.
The regulatory approval came less than 24 hours before Starship was scheduled to launch at 7 a.m. CDT (1200 GMT) Thursday from SpaceX’s launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas, where the rocket’s first two attempts took off. arriving in space last year.
Starship, a towering two-stage rocket system that will become the centerpiece of Musk’s space launch business, will aim to fly further and accomplish more test objectives than its last two flight tests, including engine re-ignition of the upper stage of the system and the opening of its payload. door in space.
Unlike the last two tests, which ended in explosions before reaching a planned landing target in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii, Thursday’s test flight will launch on a trajectory bound for the Indian Ocean, a flight profile chosen by SpaceX to enable the new mission. test targets, the company said.
Starship’s launch window on Thursday – and Friday, as a backup – is 7 a.m. to 8:51 a.m. CDT (1200 GMT to 1351 GMT), SpaceX said.
NASA, under a roughly $4 billion contract with SpaceX, plans to use Starship in the coming years to send the first human crew to the moon’s surface since the Apollo era more than half a century ago.
Starship’s upcoming test is an early demonstration on a long road to proving it is capable of safely landing astronauts on the moon, a feat that will involve other NASA spacecraft and require additional fuel for Starship supplied in space by a fleet of refueling “tanker” starships. .
SpaceX CEO Musk has said the rocket would need to make “hundreds” of uncrewed flights before humans come aboard. In recent months, NASA officials have emphasized the need to see faster progress in the rocket’s development as it competes with China, which envisions its own crewed trip to the Moon around 2030.
The FAA’s commercial space office issued the license with a reduced workforce that has struggled in recent years to keep pace with a rebound in private launch activity driven largely by SpaceX and its novel Starship tests.
The agency this week proposed a $57 million budget for its space office for fiscal year 2025, a 36 percent increase intended largely to increase its regulatory staff and spur the development of potential regulations for newer private space activities. .
“The FAA determined that SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which oversees launch site security, said in a statement.
The regulatory approval came less than 24 hours before Starship was scheduled to launch at 7 a.m. CDT (1200 GMT) Thursday from SpaceX’s launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas, where the rocket’s first two attempts took off. arriving in space last year.
Starship, a towering two-stage rocket system that will become the centerpiece of Musk’s space launch business, will aim to fly further and accomplish more test objectives than its last two flight tests, including engine re-ignition of the upper stage of the system and the opening of its payload. door in space.
Unlike the last two tests, which ended in explosions before reaching a planned landing target in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii, Thursday’s test flight will launch on a trajectory bound for the Indian Ocean, a flight profile chosen by SpaceX to enable the new mission. test targets, the company said.
Starship’s launch window on Thursday – and Friday, as a backup – is 7 a.m. to 8:51 a.m. CDT (1200 GMT to 1351 GMT), SpaceX said.
NASA, under a roughly $4 billion contract with SpaceX, plans to use Starship in the coming years to send the first human crew to the moon’s surface since the Apollo era more than half a century ago.
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SpaceX CEO Musk has said the rocket would need to make “hundreds” of uncrewed flights before humans come aboard. In recent months, NASA officials have emphasized the need to see faster progress in the rocket’s development as it competes with China, which envisions its own crewed trip to the Moon around 2030.
The FAA’s commercial space office issued the license with a reduced workforce that has struggled in recent years to keep pace with a rebound in private launch activity driven largely by SpaceX and its novel Starship tests.
The agency this week proposed a $57 million budget for its space office for fiscal year 2025, a 36 percent increase intended largely to increase its regulatory staff and spur the development of potential regulations for newer private space activities. .