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 2. Spaceflight


SPACEX FUELS UP STARSHIP IN KEY TEST AHEAD OF 2ND-EVER FLIGHT (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

By Mike Wall
published October 25, 2023

'Vehicle is ready for the second test flight of a fully integrated Starship,
pending regulatory approval.'

 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

Comments (6)
Click here for more Space.com videos...


SpaceX's latest Starship prototype just passed another big preflight test.



The company conducted a "wet dress rehearsal" at its Starbase site in South
Texas on Tuesday (Oct. 24), filling the Starship vehicle with cryogenic fuel to
check for leaks and other potential issues.



"Starship and Super Heavy were loaded with more than 10 million pounds of
propellant today in a flight-like rehearsal ahead of launch," SpaceX said
Tuesday night in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that featured video of the test.
(Super Heavy is the vehicle's first-stage booster, whereas Starship is its
upper-stage spacecraft. Both elements are powered by SpaceX's new Raptor
engines, which burn liquid methane and liquid oxygen.)




"Vehicle is ready for the second test flight of a fully integrated Starship,
pending regulatory approval," SpaceX wrote in another Tuesday night X post.

Related: Relive SpaceX's explosive 1st Starship test in incredible launch photos




SpaceX's latest Starship prototype is rimmed with frost during a fueling test on
Oct. 24, 2023. (Image credit: SpaceX)

That pending approval is a launch license, which the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) has not yet granted for the upcoming flight. 

Six weeks ago, the agency closed its investigation into Starship's first-ever
fully stacked flight, which lifted off from Starbase on April 20. That test
mission aimed to send the upper stage partway around Earth, ending with a
Pacific Ocean splashdown near Hawaii. That didn't happen, however; Starship
suffered several problems shortly after launch, and the flight ended with a
controlled detonation high above the Gulf of Mexico.

"The closure of the mishap investigation does not signal an immediate resumption
of Starship launches at Boca Chica," FAA officials said in an emailed statement
on Sept. 8, referring to the Starbase site. "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."



Another view of the Oct. 23 wet dress rehearsal. SpaceX wants to launch Starship
on its second-ever test flight soon, but it still needs a launch license from
the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Elon Musk said recently that SpaceX has implemented all of the corrective
actions required ahead of flight number two, and it's clear that the company
wants to fly again soon. 

"It's a shame when our hardware is ready to fly and we're not able to go fly
because of regulations or re-review," Bill Gerstenmaier, the vice president of
build and flight reliability at SpaceX, said last week during a hearing of the
U.S. Senate's Subcommittee on Space and Science called "Promoting Safety,
Innovation and Competitiveness in U.S. Commercial Human Space Activities."

"We need to be safe, we need to protect the environment; we don't dismiss those.
But we need to fly at the fastest pace that we can do hardware development to do
this active development process and this test flight experience that we've
described," Gerstenmaier added, referring to SpaceX's development strategy of
flying prototypes frequently, and iterating frequently based on the results.



Starship is powered by SpaceX's Raptor engines, which run on supercold liquid
methane and liquid oxygen. (Image credit: SpaceX)
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)

Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, and both of its
stages are designed to be fully and rapidly reusable. 

SpaceX believes that the vehicle will revolutionize spaceflight, making a
variety of bold exploration feats — including the human settlement of Mars, a
long-held dream of Musk's — economically feasible.

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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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.

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See all comments (6)


6 Comments Comment from the forums
 * The Dude
   
   > SpaceX said Tuesday night in a post on X (formerly Twitter)
   
   I think it's been long enough, and had enough press coverage, we don't need
   to be reminded what X was anymore. Especially since you have a link to the
   site in the text. I think most people are smart enough to figure it out if
   they havent already....
   Read More Reply
 * Highcast
   I disagree...our children are not born with your knowledge of Space X, as
   well as people who had careers that didn't allow them to know anything but
   water cooler remarks and have no idea. Yes there are millions that have heard
   of it (like you), but there is also millions that have not.
   Reply
 * The Dude
   Apologies, I wasn't referring to SpaceX, I was referring to the way so many
   media outlets still feel the need to still use the "(formerly known as
   Twitter)" parenthetical side note when referring to X.
   Reply
 * bryant
   > Admin said:
   > SpaceX loaded its latest Starship prototype with supercold propellant on
   > Tuesday (Oct. 24), notching a key milestone ahead of the vehicle's upcoming
   > test flight.
   > 
   > SpaceX fuels up Starship in key test ahead of 2nd-ever flight (video,
   > photos) : Read more
   
   Why is the federal government dragging their damn knuckles on this? we're
   running out of time, get...
   Read More Reply
 * Llarik
   I think this is FAA, not NASA, so I don't think 'Ballast' Nelson, has that
   much to do about it. Although, they may be lobbying to slow it down so as not
   to have Artemis project shown up by SpaceX's Starship.
   Reply
 * Unclear Engineer
   I don't think NASA wants to slow down Starship to avoid it beating Artemis,
   since NASA is counting on SpaceX to get some sort of Starship variant to be
   the NASA Moon lander for Artemis 3. They want to get that done before the
   Chinese get there.
   Reply
 * View All 6 Comments

Show more comments

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