In granting approval for the forthcoming spaceflight endeavor of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) conveyed its endorsement on Wednesday.
Swiftly following the regulatory nod, SpaceX communicated via the digital forum X, pinpointing Friday, November 17 as the slated date for the second test flight of the towering Starship rocket.
The launch window, spanning two hours, is scheduled to commence at 8 a.m. ET. SpaceX intends to broadcast the Starship’s ascent live, with the webcast initiating approximately half an hour before liftoff.
Having undergone its inaugural launch in April, Starship achieved fleeting flight before meeting an airborne demise, inflicting substantial harm to terrestrial infrastructure and evoking environmental apprehensions. In the aftermath, the FAA, in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), initiated a safety assessment preceding the issuance of a renewed flight authorization.
FWS ascertained that the rocket’s liftoff and ensuing damage to the pad infrastructure bore no enduring detrimental impacts on the surrounding ecology, as elucidated in an agency report disclosed on Wednesday. Nevertheless, SpaceX has committed to ameliorating environmental impact by mitigating sound wave and vibration propagation, contributing to fire suppression efforts, and fortifying launch pad safeguards, as articulated by the agency.
Henceforth, the FAA declared, “SpaceX has satisfactorily fulfilled all safety, environmental, policy, and financial responsibility prerequisites,” in a proclamation issued on Wednesday.
Integral to NASA’s lunar astronaut return initiatives and pivotal to SpaceX’s ambitions in the launch and satellite sectors, Starship epitomizes a launch capability surpassing any extant rocket in the market.
In recent years, Musk has reallocated personnel and strategic focus to the Starbase development facility in Texas, underscoring his dedication to bringing the spacecraft to fruition.