Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been given the all-clear by the Federal Aviation Administration to launch its massive Starship rocket on its second spaceflight attempt, the agency announced on Wednesday.
Soon after receiving the go-ahead, SpaceX announced on the social media site X that it was “targeting Friday, November 17 for Starship’s second flight test.”
At 8 a.m. ET, a two-hour launch window will start. The Starship launch will be broadcast live by SpaceX, with a webcast starting approximately half an hour prior to liftoff.
After Starship’s initial launch in April, which lasted only a few minutes before exploding in midair, much damage was done to the ground infrastructure and environmental concerns were raised. Before granting a new flight license for the second try, the FAA and the US Fish and Wildlife Service conducted a safety review.
According to an agency report released on Wednesday, the FWS concluded that there were no long-term detrimental effects on the surrounding ecology from the rocket launch and the damage that followed to the pad infrastructure. Nevertheless, the agency stated that SpaceX will lessen noise pollution, assist in fighting fires, and safeguard the launch pad in order to lessen damage to the region.
Consequently, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday that “the FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy, and financial responsibility requirements.”
With substantially more launch capability than any rocket currently on the market, Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s aspirations in the launch and satellite markets as well as NASA’s plans to return humans to the moon.
To get the vehicle off the ground, Musk has moved resources and emphasis to the rocket’s Starbase development facility in Texas in recent years.