SpaceX’s Starship ready to launch at Boca Chica pending FAA approval

SpaceX says a third orbital flight attempt with Starship-Super Heavy, launching from Boca Chica, could happen as soon as next Thursday “pending regulatory approval.”

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Feb. 26 that it had closed its mishap investigation, led by SpaceX, into the company’s second Starship orbital flight attempt, on Nov. 18. The flight ended in both stages being destroyed by onboard flight-termination systems (FTS), though not until after successful separation was achieved.

With the first orbital attempt, April 20, 2023 the Super Heavy stage-one booster and Starship, the spacecraft portion that would eventually carry astronauts, were destroyed via FTS after the stages failed to separate and veered out of control.

Nevertheless, SpaceX deemed the first attempt a success just for making it off the launch pad without blowing up, and the second attempt even more so due to the successful stage separation and Starship’s relatively long flight (eight minutes) before being destroyed.

On Monday, the company conducted a full “wet dress rehearsal” of Starship S28 and Super Heavy B10, the prototypes to be used for the third orbital attempt. The rehearsal involved loading the two stages with more than 10 million pounds of liquid methane and liquid oxygen propellant and “taking the flight-like countdown to T-10 seconds,” SpaceX posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The FAA, in announcing the conclusion of the latest mishap investigation, said it “has been provided with sufficient information and accepts the root causes and (17) corrective actions” SpaceX identified and documented in the mishap report. Corrective actions for Super Heavy include vehicle hardware redesign, upgraded control-system modeling, reevaluation of engine analyses based on test flight data, and updated engine control algorithms, the FAA said.

For Starship, corrective actions include vehicle hardware redesign, operational changes, flammability analysis updates, installation of additional fire protection, and guidance and modeling updates, the agency said.

While the mishap investigation is closed, the FAA still has not issued the modified launch license necessary for SpaceX’s third orbital flight attempt from Boca Chica.

“Prior to the next launch, SpaceX must implement all corrective actions and receive a license modification from the FAA that addresses all safety, environmental and other applicable regulatory requirements,” the agency said. “The FAA is evaluating SpaceX’s license modification request and expects SpaceX to submit additional required information before a final determination can be made.”

Visitors look on as SpaceX’s Starship, the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket, stands ready for a scheduled launch from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Wednesday, April 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric GayAP Photo)

SpaceX, which has a $2.9 billion contract with NASA to develop Starship as the Human Landing System that will return astronauts to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years as part of NASA’s Artemis program, is pushing to dramatically increase its launch cadence from Boca Chica. The company has requested a waiver from the FAA allowing it to conduct at least nine Boca Chica launches a year, up from the five launches per year the agency has so far approved, contingent upon SpaceX meeting the FAA’s requirements for each launch.

Kevin Coleman, FAA administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, said last month that the agency is in constant communication with SpaceX and is “trying to figure out how do we do this.”

“We’re invested with the company, and so we’ll work with them to get them back (launching) as soon as they can,” he said.

SpaceX says on its website that the second orbital test flight “achieved a number of major milestones and provided invaluable data to continue rapidly developing Starship.”

“The third flight test aims to build on what we’ve learned from previous flights while attempting a number of ambitious objectives, including the successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship’s payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage’s coast phase, the first ever re-light of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship,” the company said.

SpaceX is trying out a new flight trajectory this time as well, and will attempt to land Starship in the Indian Ocean rather than off the coast of Hawaii as with the first two orbital attempts.

“This new flight path enables us to attempt new techniques like in-space engine burns while maximizing public safety,” the company said.

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