SpaceX Gets Regulatory Green Light For Starship Launch
SpaceX received a much-awaited green light from the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday for the launch of Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket to ever take off from Earth, Ars Technica reports(Opens in a new window).
The approval, which SpaceX had been waiting to get for several years, means the company is set to launch the rocket as soon as Monday. In its thumbs up, the FAA said: “After a comprehensive license evaluation process, the FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy, payload, airspace integration and financial responsibility requirements.” The license, the agency added, is valid for five years.
As Ars Technica notes in its report, Space X is due to perform a final readiness review this weekend before confirming it will launch. In a tweet(Opens in a new window) last night, SpaceX said Starship was “fully stacked at Starbase” in Texas, which suggests the rocket is good to launch on Monday.
If all goes to plan, Starship will lift off from SpaceX’s launch site in Boca Chica on the Gulf of Mexico after 7 am local time (12:00 UTC). Tuesday and Wednesday are also cited by Ars Technica as potential backup launch opportunities.
Owing to the SpaceX sites’ proximity to wetlands that are home to many shorebirds(Opens in a new window), the space company and Starship had been subject to extensive environmental checks and regulations. In June, the FAA dished out 75 actions SpaceX was required to do to protect local wildlife in and around its Boca Chica site.
According to Ars Technica’s Eric Berger, in its launch, the Starship is expected to ascend to an altitude of 235 km (146 miles) and become “nearly orbital.” The whole launch, orbit, and re-entry into Earth will take a total of 90
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