FAA delays SpaceX Starship Flight 5 to November

SpaceX has announced it’s not expecting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to provide a launch license for Starship Flight 5 until November.

The first and second stages are ready for flight 5 test on August 8, 2024. However, the FAA is keeping the test flight at bay by holding a new license.

The flight was expected to fly in early September but now it’s pushed back two months, which is extremely disappointing for visitors anticipating the new liftoff.

The license has been delayed due to the ongoing environmental impact assessment of the Starship program. However, the agency has postponed the assessment report but taking feedback from other industry players on this particular launch vehicle.

Starship is a two-stage integrated rocket designed for maximum reusability. It has conducted four tests and achieved new milestones in different areas including liftoff, hot-staging, and orbit flyover.

Starship Flight 5 (Source – SpaceX)

With flight 5, the company is looking to recover the first stage on the launch tower. This will help the company to do the same for the second stage in future missions.

SpaceX has already conducted two test flights this year, one in March and another in June. This will be the third test but license approval is now posing a new challenge.

The Starship maker has applied for numerous launches in a year to test this mega-rocket and prepare it for planetary missions. It has also ramped up Starship production to complete these tests one after another.

However, the FAA is being extra careful with this rocket, which is by far the most powerful on the planet.

The company said that license delays affected the development phase and created roadblocks based on false and misleading media reporting.

“This delay was not based on a new safety concern, but instead driven by superfluous environmental analysis,” wrote SpaceX in a new Starship 5 launch update.

We’ll have to see what comes next for the Starship program.

(source)