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SpaceX's Starship rocket will launch in June, according to its head of Starbase operations, Kathy Leuders. Leuders shared the latest updates for the Starship program earlier this week in Texas, soon after which SpaceX stacked the ship on the booster at the launch tower in Starbase. Starship's fourth test flight comes right as SpaceX demolishes a ship test pad close to the launch pad, in what appears to be an attempt to fully utilize the hardware rich aspect of its rocket development program. According to Leuders, SpaceX is yet to receive the FAA's launch license for Starship IFT-4, and the next couple of weeks will see her firm conduct pre launch rehearsals at the pad.
SpaceX Expects To Receive FAA Launch License For Starship IFT-4 This Month Says Starbase Manager
During her talk Leuders commented that she faced quite a culture shock after making the move to SpaceX from NASA. She appreciated on SpaceX's fast work culture, which, according to her, is unlike any other company's culture. This allows SpaceX to rapidly test out design changes on its rockets, such as the upgrades that it has made on the Starship second and first stage rockets since the test flights started in 2023.
The next Starship test vehicles are "on the pad" and SpaceX is currently holding off its wet dress rehearsals as it investigates a problem with the second stage for the fifth Starship flight, according to her. SpaceX has tested the rockets for the fifth flight, and the reason for the wait, shared by Leuders, is to let SpaceX determine whether the problem on the fifth flight's rocket might also hamper progress with the wet dress rehearsal and IFT-4.
A key portion of the progress toward a Starship test flight is securing the FAA's approval. The regulatory agency has limited SpaceX to one test flight per license, and according to Leuders, SpaceX has not received FAA clearance for Starship IFT-4.
According to her, the FAA's launch license should come by the end of this month, around the Memorial Day weekend. After it secures a launch license, SpaceX will be free to launch Starship, and Leuders shared, "We're getting ready to do our stacked test and our wet dresses river the next few weeks. And then hopefully right after the memorial day weekend or close to it we'll get our FAA license and we'll be ready for our next Starship launch."
A distinctive aspect of the Starship program is its launch profile for long duration missions. SpaceX has designed multiple variants of second stage rocket depending on the mission profile. One variant is the tanker Starship, which will fly solely to fuel other variants, such as crewed and cargo Starships in Earth orbit. This profile will also be used for NASA's lunar landing missions through the Human Landing System (SLS) for the Artemis program, and Leuders shared details for the number of launches that it might take for SpaceX to fill the rocket in space.
She shared that a single Mars landing requires fifteen tanker launches within a "certain period of time." These constraints have forced SpaceX to develop launch facilities in Texas and Florida, as according to Leuders, SpaceX will "need the Florida base too to be able to do the number and the sequencing of the mission."
Full stack of Flight 4 Starship pic.twitter.com/TPprnj0zC4
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 16, 2024
About the author: Ramish is a seasoned technology writer and editor with more than a decade of experience. He specializes in semiconductor fabrication and market analysis. With a background in finance and supply chain management - via his bachelors in Finance and a micromasters in supply chain management from MIT - Ramish combines financial rigor with deep industry insight to deliver accurate and authoritative coverage.
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