3rd SpaceX Starship flight would be ready in 3 to 4 weeks, says SpaceX chief

Starship is already working on the next generation of its super-heavy Starship flight and the 3rd vehicle hardware will be ready in 3 to 4 weeks from now.

Last Saturday, SpaceX launched the second flight test of the integrated Starship from Starbase, Texas. Starship successfully lifted off from the launch pad with all of its 33 Raptor engines working in sync.

The booster and Starship made it up to a successful hot staging. However, the booster occurred a rapid unscheduled disassembly after its boost backburn and blasted in the mid-air. Following the stage separation, Starship also fired its 6-second stage engines for several minutes and achieved an altitude of 150 kilometers before it went silent.

Yesterday, SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk inspected the Starship launch pad and posted on social media site X “No refurbishment needed to the water-cooled steel plate for the next launch.”

He found that the launch pad was still in great condition after the first flight test blew away a hole inside the previous version.

In the comment section, X user John Kraus asked Musk when will be the next flight ready for flight.

Musk replied that the Starship Flight 3 hardware should be ready to fly in 3 to 4 weeks. He further shared that there are three ships in final production in the High Bay starbase.

This is quite news for people who are already looking forward to the 3rd Starship flight test.

Under the process, SpaceX will require to take regulatory approval for the next flight test, which may take a few months since the FAA is keeping high precautions with Starship flight tests. Still, the FAA might not delay the approval as compared to the second flight.