2024-03-13 21:57:35
March 13, 2024 Today at 10:54 p.m.
Updated March 13, 2024 10:57 p.m.
SpaceX has received permission to launch its gigantic Starship rocket for a third time, four months following its last test ended in an explosion.
The US Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, granted SpaceX a license on Wednesday to test the company’s Starship rocket system from Texasaccording to the agency’s website, paving the way for a new demonstration of a spacecraft crucial to Elon Musk’s satellite launch business and NASA’s lunar program.
“The FAA has determined that SpaceX met all safety requirementsenvironment, policy and financial responsibility,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which oversees launch site safety, said in a statement.
The regulatory approval came less than 24 hours before the Starship’s scheduled launch time of 7 a.m. local (1 p.m. in Belgium) this Thursday, from the launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas, where the first two launch attempts last year took place.
Read also
Musk makes good on his threat and moves SpaceX from Delaware to Texas
Serial explosions
Starship, the massive two-stage rocket system that is expected to become the centerpiece of Musk’s space launch business, will attempt to fly farther and meet more test targets than on its last two flights. test, in particular the re-ignition of the engine of its upper stage and opening of its payload door in the space.
SpaceX will also attempt to transfer “super cold propellants” between storage tanks inside the rocket, an experiment done in partnership with NASA which is fundamental to the company’s ability to explore the solar system. In order to reach distant destinations such as the moon and Mars, Starship will have to “refuel” with fuel in orbitlike a car filling up with gas before a long trip.
SpaceX estimates it will need to make “around ten” consecutive Starship flights to fill a vehicle for a trip to the moon.
However, no one has ever stored or transferred large quantities of “super cold fuel” to orbit before. SpaceX must demonstrate that it can perform this task, and then do it once more and once more on a much larger scale. The company estimates that it will have to carry out “around ten” consecutive Starship flights to fill a vehicle for a trip to the moon.
Contrary to last two tests, both of which ended in explosions Before reaching a planned landing target in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii, Thursday’s test flight will take off on a trajectory toward the Indian Ocean, “a flight profile chosen by SpaceX to allow ( to achieve) the new mission test objectives,” the company said.
1710383366
#SpaceX #attempt #launch #Starship #rocket #Thursday #failed #tests
