SpaceX spacecraft awaits FAA approval for orbital launch attempt

Last week, SpaceX announced that it was preparing for a launch fully stacked The spacecraft is performing its first orbital flight test after this week’s test launch and is awaiting regulatory approval. Now SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is make sure It’s ready, with the release of a ‘trend around the end of the third week of April,’ Musk said he wrote in a tweet on Monday.

Starship is SpaceX’s long-awaited flagship spacecraft, designed to carry astronauts and payloads to deep space — including the Moon and, of course, Mars. Most importantly, the parts are designed to be reusable, and they’re paired with a massive propellant known as Super Heavy to pull it off the surface of the Earth.

SpaceX followed suit with the five-minute CG reel of Starship on a mission to Mars, complete with refueling and a glimpse of Musk’s idea for an outpost on the planet.

SpaceX’s spacecraft is ready for testing at the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. Starship has faced several launch delays, including a major setback last summer when the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) determined there would be environmental impact around the base.

But now all that’s left to get Starship and Super Heavy is an FAA license. “The FAA will not make a licensing decision until the agency is satisfied that SpaceX meets all licensing, safety and other regulatory requirements,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. E-mail. For Street.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration Board of Operations, Super Heavy is scheduled for release on April 17, with backup dates for each subsequent day after the 22nd. Ars-Technica SpaceX says it is working closely with the FAA and the regulator should finally provide a license.

If the April 17 launch date becomes a reality, that means SpaceX is only a week away from the Super Heavy’s final launch, which it has yet to do. It is expected that once launched, the Super Heavy and the Starship will separate, then the Super Heavy will head towards the Gulf of Mexico while the Starship moves into orbit. Shortly after, the spacecraft will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and vertically land in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.