The Federal Aviation Administration has completed a key part of the review of SpaceX’s Starship launch license, bringing the company one step closer to a second launch.
Regulators said Tuesday they completed a safety review focused on how a Starship launch could affect public health and property. That review evaluates SpaceX’s “safety organization, system safety processes, flight safety analysis, and quantitative risk criteria for launch, reentry, and disposal of vehicles,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. a statement.
That regulators have completed the safety review portion of the license is critical, especially considering that Starship’s first orbital flight test in April ended with a spectacular mid-air explosion of the vehicle.
However, this does not mean that regulators have given SpaceX the green light to launch. The company is still awaiting results of the environmental assessment, which the FAA is conducting in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). That updated biological assessment, which is being conducted under the Endangered Species Act, will examine potential impacts to the local environment.
The FWS and FAA began that review on October 19 and have 135 days to provide an updated assessment. Among their considerations is SpaceX’s new water deluge system, which SpaceX installed after the orbital launch stand was destroyed by the booster rocket’s ultra-powerful engines.
SpaceX’s Starship is the most powerful rocket in human history. The nearly 400-foot-tall Super Heavy booster and upper stage (also called Starship) lifted off on its first test flight on April 20. The launch vehicle did not complete stage separation, triggering an automated self-destruct command that detonated the rocket. over the Gulf of Mexico.
For its part, SpaceX has said it is ready to conduct a second orbital flight test. In testimony provided to lawmakers earlier this month, SpaceX vice president of construction and flight reliability Bill Gerstenmaier said Starship has been ready for its next flight test “for more than a month.”
In a tweet last week, SpaceX said it conducted a wet dress rehearsal of the stacked vehicle in preparation for launch.
Starship and Super Heavy were loaded today with more than 10 million pounds of propellant in a flight-like test before launch. pic.twitter.com/VbBTdR5h9p
-SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 25, 2023
