You almost certainly shouldn’t hold out hope for a launch of SpaceX’s giant Starship vehicle this month.
SpaceX is gearing up for the second-ever liftoff of Starship, probably the most powerful rocket ever built, from its Starbase site in South Texas. The vehicle slated to make the leap is able to go, in response to company founder and CEO Elon Musk; SpaceX just must secure the mandatory regulatory approvals, including a launch license from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
That license might be coming soon — though perhaps not as soon as Musk would really like.
“We’re working well with them and have been in good discussions. Teams are working together and I feel we’re optimistic [about issuing a license] sometime next month,” the FAA’s acting administrator, Polly Trottenberg, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on Wednesday (Sept. 13), in response to Reuters.
Related: Relive SpaceX’s explosive 1st Starship test in incredible launch photos
Last Friday (Sept. 8), the FAA wrapped up its investigation of Starship’s first flight, which occurred on April 20. That test mission aimed to send Starship’s 165-foot-tall (50 meters) upper stage most of the way in which around Earth, with splashdown targeted for the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.
But Starship suffered several problems shortly after launch, including the failure of its two stages to separate, and SpaceX detonated the vehicle on purpose high above the Gulf of Mexico.
Those issues spurred the FAA mishap investigation, which identified 63 “corrective actions” for SpaceX to take. The corporate has addressed the 57 actions that were required before the launch of Flight 2, Musk said recently via X (formerly Twitter). The opposite six corrective actions relate to future missions, in response to the billionaire entrepreneur.
The timeline for Flight 2 — whose goals can be just like those of the April mission — may remain murky even after the FAA issues a license, as Reuters noted.
“SpaceX would still need a separate environmental approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before a launch,” Reuters wrote. “Trottenberg didn’t say how long which may take.”
Musk would really like to fly Starship as often as possible. That is in line with SpaceX’s ethos: The corporate iterates quickly and proves out, or finds issues with, its designs via test flights.