Will SpaceX’ Starship 3 fly on March 14?

SpaceX is all set to launch its Starship 3 for test flight but there’s still a pending Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) license to conduct the test on March 14.

FAA took months to approve the first Starship’s testing in April last year. After the first test, the agency conducted a mishap investigation on the flight’s achievement and impact on the environment.

SpaceX applied the list of upgrades suggested by the FAA in the mishap report. The second flight still took at least 5 months to grab the FAA’s node.

During the second flight, in November 2023, the company achieved ground clearance and hot-staging but the vehicle didn’t survive after these milestones.

SpaceX conducted the second flight test mishap investigation and it was overseen by the FAA.

The company recently concluded this investigation and confirmed 17 new primary upgrades in the design, launch pad, stage separation, and more.

It is revealed that SpaceX is already running with a schedule and completed these upgrades. And the company kept on testing both spacecraft and Super Heavy for the past two months.

Visuals show that the company has stacked and de-stacked the first and second stages at least 4-5 times over the past few weeks. Pre-flight tests such as Wet Dress Rehearsal and Static fire are all completed.

Second Integrated Starship Flight Liftoff from Starbase in Texas (Image Credit: SpaceX)

Launch this week?

Amid pending approval, the agency has published a new advisory list. This schedule might include a possible launch window for the third Starship test flight.

The advisory consists of a primary date of March 14, 2024, with 12:00Z-14:13Z (7 a.m. to 9:13 a.m. central). The backup advisory dates include 15 March, 16 March, 17 March, and 18 March.

The FAA didn’t mention that these advisories are related to the Starship 3 launch.

Since SpaceX has already completed the required developments in this new flight, the FAA’s license should allow Starship 3 flight by this week if not on March 14.