SpaceX obtains a license to launch Starship rocket to orbit
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SpaceX has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to launch its Starship rocket into orbit. The licensing for this launch marked a crucial regulatory step by SpaceX as it looks to test an orbital launch for its towering rocket for the first time.
SpaceX to launch a Starship rocket to orbit
The Elon Musk-owned company has a license to launch a Starship to orbit. The Starship will be launched as soon as Monday, with the launch happening from the company’s private facility based in Texas along the Gulf Coast.
The statement released by the FAA said that “after a comprehensive license evaluation process, the FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy, payload, airspace integration, and financial responsibility requirements. The license is valid for five years.”
SpaceX said that it had set Monday, April 17, as the date for the first flight test featuring a fully integrated Starship and a Super Heavy rocket that will be launched from Starbase in Texas. The test window is 150 minutes and will start at 7.00 a.m. CT.
On Friday, the FAA released an air traffic restriction for the area where this launch would be conducted. The Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) requires that planes and all air traffic stay away from the launch area.
Starship launch is a major milestone for SpaceX
If this launch goes as planned, it will mark the first time SpaceX is putting Starship into orbit. The company has conducted testing campaigns for years to design the rocket.
The CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk, has also expressed his excitement about Starship for years. He has talked about this planned launch for nearly a decade, where he has laid out the designs and described the project as the tool that underpins the goal behind the launch of SpaceX and sending people to Mars for the first time.
The maiden flight test will not include a complete orbit around Earth. However, if the flight test is successful, it will attain orbital speeds and travel around 150 miles above the Earth’s surface, reaching altitudes previously believed to be outer space.
Starship comprises two components: The Super Heavy Booster and the Starship spacecraft. The former is an enormous rocket with 33 engines, while the former exists above the booster during launch, and it has been designed to break free after the booster expends fuel to complete the mission.
During the test flight, the rocket booster will be dropped into the ocean after liftoff. However, SpaceX is planning to change this in consecutive flights. SpaceX has plans to recover the vehicle by guiding it on an upright landing at the launch site. Starship will nearly complete a full orbit around Earth before the flight ends in Hawaii. The development of Starship has been marked with multiple tests, with one suborbital flight test happening in May 2021.
