SpaceX is preparing a big test of its Starship rocket. The goal is to get FAA clearance for first takeoff on April 17th.
SpaceX was finally able to make the first orbital flight of its Starship rocket in about ten days. Indeed, the company recently tweeted new photos of its rocket at the Boca Chica complex in Texas. “The Starship is fully stacked at Starbase,”the SpaceX frame reads.
SpaceX prepares big tests of its Starship rocket
“The team is hard at work preparing for the general test, followed next week by Starship’s first comprehensive flight test, before trying to get regulatory approval.”On the same day, SpaceX owner Elon Musk suggested an even shorter schedule: “Starship ready to take off next week, awaiting clearance,”he tweeted.
The date for this first orbital flight of Starship hasn’t stopped moving for nearly two years now. In early February, a week after SpaceX passed its first-ever ignition test for an entire rocket, Elon Musk said the company would try to launch the spacecraft in March if the remaining tests were successful. A few days later, SpaceX attempted to statically ignite 33 Raptor engines in the first stage, an operation it had never performed until now. This test was a decisive step towards this first Starship orbital flight. Unfortunately, the rocket did not pass the tests completely: two engines did not work until the completion of the tests.
The goal is to get FAA clearance for first takeoff on April 17th.
Be that as it may, the schedule shared by Elon Musk this week, as is often the case with him, is very optimistic. According to Space.com, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has set April 17 as the Starship launch window. But the site says the FAA has yet to issue a license to SpaceX to launch the rocket, a document it must obtain before Starship can fly legally.
The starship is fully complex at the Starbase. The team is working on next week’s launch rehearsal followed by Starship’s first comprehensive flight test ~ a week later pending regulatory approval pic.twitter.com/9VbJLppswp
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 6, 2023