SpaceX’s upcoming Starship rocket has officially been certified to fly.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday (June 4) issued a launch license to SpaceX for the Starship Flight 4 test mission, which is currently scheduled to lift off no later than Thursday, June 6, from the company’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica. Beach in South Texas.
“The FAA has approved a licensing permit for SpaceX Starship Flight 4,” FAA officials wrote in a statement. “SpaceX met all safety and other licensing requirements for this test flight.”
Related: SpaceX targets June 6 for the next launch of its giant Starship rocket (photos)
As its name suggests, SpaceX’s Starship Flight 4 mission is the fourth test flight of the company’s Starship and Super Heavy launch vehicles. When fully assembled, it stands approximately 400 feet tall, and is the largest and most powerful rocket in the world. SpaceX designed Starship as a fully reusable, ultra-heavy-lift launch system for missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. NASA’s Artemis program, for example, has selected Starship as the lander to transport Artemis 3 astronauts to the lunar south pole in 2026.
But before the spacecraft can fly to the moon, SpaceX must prove that the shiny, stainless-steel rocket can reach orbit.
The company has flown three test flights so far: The first failed flight in April 2023 that destroyed the SpaceX launch pad as well as the rocket; A second flight in November of that year which also failed to reach space; The most recent launch was Starship Flight 3 on March 18 of this year, which reached space for the first time before losing the vehicle and its super-heavy booster before reaching their final targets.
After each Starship launch test, the FAA conducted time-consuming investigations into the failure and made recommendations that SpaceX had to address before each subsequent launch attempt. For Starship Flight 4, SpaceX and the FAA agreed to a different approach.
“As part of the license modification request, SpaceX proposed three scenarios involving spacecraft entry that would not require an investigation in the event of a loss of the vehicle. The FAA approved the scenarios as exceptions to damage from testing after evaluating them as part of an analysis,” FAA officials said in the statement. Aviation safety and aviation risks and ensuring that it meets public safety requirements.” “If a different anomaly occurs on the Starship vehicle, an investigation may be warranted, as well as if an anomaly occurs on the Super Heavy booster rocket.”
This agreement notes that SpaceX has identified three potential ways the Starship or Super Heavy spacecraft could fail (such as loss during reentry) which the company and the FAA have agreed would not need a lengthy investigation. The three scenarios do not appear to be detailed in 6 page FAA launch license.
For Flight 4, SpaceX aims to fly the Starship and Super Heavy vehicles on a similar trajectory to test Flight 3, a mission that would launch the Starship to orbital velocity, then re-enter the vehicle over the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, the super-heavy rocket is expected to return toward south Texas and make a controlled “landing” in the Gulf of Mexico.
“The fourth flight test shifts our focus from getting to orbit to demonstrating the ability to return and reuse Starship and Super Heavy,” SpaceX wrote. In the task overview“The primary objectives will be to perform a descent and soft landing in the Gulf of Mexico using a very heavy booster, and achieve a controlled entry of the spacecraft.”
In recent weeks, SpaceX has conducted a series of fueling tests for both the Flight 4 Starship and its Super Heavy booster. It appears that both vehicles passed successfully.
“Starship is ready to fly,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Written on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday (June 3).
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