SpaceX stacks Starship 5 while waiting for a flight license

SpaceX has stacked the Starship 5 rocket and booster at the Starbase launch site and announced that the flight is now launch-ready.

The rocket company has already announced the flight readiness in August but due to the delay in the flight license, SpaceX has been conducting a few more tests.

In June, SpaceX flew Starship 4 and achieved new milestones including full engine ignition, hot-staging, inserting the spacecraft into orbit, and re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere to test the heat shield.

On the other hand, the booster stage has completed all its milestones as planned compared to the second stage. After hot-staging, the spacecraft reached a landing site in the sea and performed a final burn to vertical itself prior to splashdown.

The flight data from Starship 4 has provided new important statics to the team to attempt a vertical landing on the launch tower.

During the final burn, the launch tower arms will close and catch the booster in the air. This will be the first time, SpaceX will attempt to recover the booster for this massive rocket. Meanwhile, the second stage will take some time to meet the recovery criteria due to its complex milestones.

Since last month, SpaceX has been trying different maneuvers with the launch tower arms (chopsticks). These include opening and closing sequences, improving flexibility for real launch, and system checks.

Delay in Launch License

Once Stacked, the Starship 5 launch is pending due to a delayed flight license. FAA has recently announced it will review the application changes shared by SpaceX and it may take some time including the safety and environment review.

SpaceX has shared that the launch could be delayed until November, which was previously speculated for September.

The delay has also created issues between SpaceX and FAA, which has reached the US Congress.