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 1. News
 2. Spaceflight


FAA WRAPS UP SAFETY REVIEW OF SPACEX'S HUGE STARSHIP ROCKET

By Mike Wall
published October 31, 2023

But there's still another regulatory hurdle to clear before Starship can fly for
the second time.

 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

Comments (10)

SpaceX's first fully integrated Starship vehicle rises into the South Texas sky
on April 20, 2023. (Image credit: SpaceX via Twitter)


SpaceX Starship Second Flight Test Update: SpaceX launched its Starship rocket
and Super Heavy booster on its second flight test on Nov. 18, 2023, but the
vehicles exploded during flight. Read our coverage for full details and video.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SpaceX's giant Starship rocket just cleared a major hurdle on the road to its
second-ever liftoff.



The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today (Oct. 31) that it
has wrapped up its Starship safety review, which assesses the risks that a
launch might pose to public health and property.




However, there's still another regulatory box to check before SpaceX can get a
license for the next Starship liftoff.

"The FAA is continuing to work on the environmental review," the agency wrote
today in an emailed statement. "As part of its environmental review, the FAA is
consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on an updated
Biological Assessment under the Endangered Species Act. The FAA and the USFWS
must complete this consultation before the environmental review portion of the
license evaluation is completed."



Related: SpaceX fuels up Starship in key test ahead of 2nd-ever flight (video,
photos)

Starship Die Cast Rocket Model Now $69.99 on Amazon. 

If you can't see SpaceX's Starship in person, you can score a model of your own.
Standing at 13.77 inches (35 cm), this is a 1:375 ratio of SpaceX's Starship as
a desktop model. The materials here are alloy steel and it weighs just 225g.

Note: Stock is low so you'll have to act quickly to get this. 

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Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. It consists of two
fully reusable elements — the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage — and
stands nearly 400 feet (122 meters) tall when fully stacked.

The full-size vehicle has flown just once to date, on a test flight that
launched on April 20 from Starbase, SpaceX's seaside facility in South Texas. 

That mission aimed to send the Starship upper stage partway around the world,
with splashdown targeted for the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. But Starship
suffered several problems shortly after liftoff, including a failure of
separation for its two stages. As a result, the vehicle was intentionally
detonated above the Gulf of Mexico.

The FAA soon initiated a mishap investigation, which closed on Sept. 8. However,
the agency stressed at the time that more work was needed before SpaceX could
receive a license for liftoff number two.

"SpaceX must implement all corrective actions that impact public safety and
apply for and receive a license modification from the FAA that addresses all
safety, environmental and other applicable regulatory requirements prior to the
next Starship launch," the agency wrote at the time.

And, as today's FAA update notes, there's still work to do on the environmental
side.


RELATED STORIES:

 —  Starship and Super Heavy: SpaceX's Mars-colonizing transportation system

 —  Elon Musk says SpaceX could launch a Starship to the moon 'probably sooner'
than 2024: report

 — SpaceX fires up giant Starship booster for 2nd time ahead of test flight
(video)

The ongoing review apparently centers on the potential impacts of a water deluge
system, which SpaceX installed beneath Starbase's orbital launch mount after the
April test flight. 

The new system is designed to protect the mount from the destructive power of
Super Heavy's 33 Raptor engines, which was on full display on April 20: The
Raptors blasted out a big crater beneath the mount, sending chunks of concrete
and other debris raining down on Starbase and the surrounding area.

We should expect Starship to fly relatively soon after the environmental review
wraps up, provided everything goes well. SpaceX and its founder and CEO, Elon
Musk, have said that the latest vehicle has passed all of its prelaunch tests
and is ready to go.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky
and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at:
community@space.com.


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Policy and are aged 16 or over.
Mike Wall
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Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in
2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has
been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien
life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science
writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D.
in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's
degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science
writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his
latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

More about spaceflight

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SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites on 1st of back-to-back missions this
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Latest

SpaceX Starship megarocket launches on 2nd-ever test flight, but explodes in
'rapid unscheduled disassembly'

See more latest ►

See all comments (10)


10 Comments Comment from the forums
 * bryant
   > Admin said:
   > The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has completed its safety review of
   > SpaceX's Starship — but that doesn't mean the giant vehicle has been
   > officially cleared for its second-ever liftoff.
   > 
   > FAA wraps up safety review of SpaceX's huge Starship vehicle : Read more
   
   Come on man, get this dog and pony show over with, nothing endangered there
   except...
   Read More Reply
 * Pesko
   > bryant said:
   > Come on man, get this dog and pony show over with, nothing endangered there
   > except beach bums
   
   "Boca Chica, on the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, provides habitat for a rich
   diversity of wildlife, including endangered species like ocelots, piping
   plovers and aplomado falcons. It's one of the few places where Kemp's ridley
   sea turtles — the most...
   Read More Reply
 * TomMariner
   "the FAA is consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on an
   updated Biological Assessment under the Endangered Species Act. " After 40
   years, Musk has put us back in the Space business but because he bought
   Twitter and took away a political platform he must be stopped!
   
   The one thing our country is the...
   Read More Reply
 * Rationality
   > TomMariner said:
   > "the FAA is consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on
   > an updated Biological Assessment under the Endangered Species Act. " After
   > 40 years, Musk has put us back in the Space business but because he bought
   > Twitter and took away a political platform he must be stopped!
   > 
   > The one thing our country is...
   
   Read More Reply
 * bp968
   > Pesko said:
   > "Boca Chica, on the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, provides habitat for a rich
   > diversity of wildlife, including endangered species like ocelots, piping
   > plovers and aplomado falcons. It's one of the few places where Kemp's
   > ridley sea turtles — the most critically endangered sea turtles on the
   > planet — come ashore to nest."
   > 
   > "Boca Chica sits...
   
   Read More Reply
 * Rationality
   > bp968 said:
   > Starbase sits on roughly 100 acres in the middle of nowhere Texas. This
   > isn't a new car factory or a mall we are talking about, it's our countries
   > lead in the space program over a hostile competitor. I'm fairly certain we
   > can figure out a way to protect the environment and humanities future on
   > the planet without...
   
   Read More Reply
 * Pesko
   > bp968 said:
   > Starbase sits on roughly 100 acres in the middle of nowhere Texas. This
   > isn't a new car factory or a mall we are talking about, it's our countries
   > lead in the space program over a hostile competitor. I'm fairly certain we
   > can figure out a way to protect the environment and humanities future on
   > the planet without...
   
   Read More Reply
 * Pesko
   > TomMariner said:
   > "the FAA is consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on
   > an updated Biological Assessment under the Endangered Species Act. " After
   > 40 years, Musk has put us back in the Space business but because he bought
   > Twitter and took away a political platform he must be stopped!
   > 
   > The one thing our country is...
   
   Read More Reply
 * Temple
   > Pesko said:
   > China's infrastructure expansion has been done quickly at the expense of
   > safety, quality, and environmental standards and are rampant with
   > corruption. Very much not an example worth emulating.
   
   I am sure you don't even know where space starts
   Reply
 * Pesko
   > Temple said:
   > I am sure you don't even know where space starts
   
   Weird flex. Like most things that adults have to deal with, the answer is "it
   depends" but you sound like the type of person that only deals with black and
   white. But many people refer to 100 km as the start of outer space.
   
   It might surprise...
   Read More Reply
 * View All 10 Comments

Show more comments

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