HAMBURG, Germany — SpaceX received the ultimate regulatory approvals Nov. 15 that allow the corporate to proceed with the second integrated Starship/Super Heavy launch, scheduled for as soon because the morning of Nov. 17.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Nov. 15 that it had issued SpaceX an updated launch license for the vehicle. “The FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements,” the FAA said in an announcement.
The ultimate step in securing a license was a completion of an environmental review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) of upgrades to the Starship launch pad at Boca Chica, Texas, notably the addition of a water deluge system. That system is meant to cut back the potential for pad damage seen in the primary Starship launch in April.
FWS, in an announcement earlier within the day, said that it had finalized its review “and concluded our formal consultation with the FAA.” That review formally began Oct. 19 and the agency said then it could take as much as 135 days to finish but that it didn’t “expect to take the complete period of time.”
The review found no significant environmental changes attributable to that deluge system in addition to other adjustments, reminiscent of an enlarged area looked for any cultural artifacts. It concluded the findings of the unique review “are still substantially valid and pertinent conditions and requirements of the prior evaluation and approval have been, or might be, met in the present motion.”
SpaceX had said that it was planning a launch no sooner than Nov. 17, pending regulatory approvals. The corporate confirmed those plans after the FAA announcement, stating that liftoff was scheduled for a two-hour window that opens at 8 a.m. Eastern.
The mission is named Orbital Flight Test 2 within the FAA license, although, as with the primary launch, Starship shouldn’t be designed to finish a full orbit. The spacecraft will as an alternative splash down off the coast of Hawaii about 90 minutes after liftoff, if the flight goes as planned.
The primary flight, in fact, didn’t follow that plan, and the vehicle was destroyed by its flight termination system about 4 minutes after liftoff once a series of engine failures led to a lack of control. SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk said in June that the corporate made “well over a thousand” changes to Starship/Super Heavy based on lessons from the primary launch and other desired upgrades. He estimated then a 60% probability of a successful flight.