After a notable pause, SpaceX has finally broken the silence for the launch date of its fifth Starship test flight, which appears to ensure that 2024 will see just three launches. In an update on its website, the firm shared that as per its communications with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Starship Flight 5 will receive a launch license in November at the earliest. This marks a significant delay from the multiple estimates shared by Elon Musk after Starship's fourth integrated test flight.
According to SpaceX, Starship Super Heavy's interstage ring and tower catch are to blame for the delay. They have made the FAA require two months of additional evaluation before it feels comfortable proceeding with a fifth test flight.
SpaceX Shares Surprising Two Month Delay For Starship Flight 5
SpaceX's latest statement follows a meeting of the House Science Committee's space subcommittee about new FAA licensing regulations. During the meeting, FAA's associate administrator for commercial space transportation, Kelvin Coleman, shared that SpaceX was requesting Starship license approvals on a per mission basis, which was the determining factor behind the timeline of the associated approvals.
When asked by the committee what the FAA considers when deciding license approvals for missions that have previously secured approvals, Coleman shared that "we issued a 450 license to SpaceX for that activity." Coleman added that "missions change, technologies on the vehicles change, which require a modification to the license. 450 is designed to approve a suite of missions." According to the FAA official, "It is our [FAA] intention with 450 to not have to come back to deal with modifications at such a frequent basis."
He concluded by commenting "We're up to the fifth flight now, we've, we have four flights. SpaceX has four flights under its belt, three of which have been under modifications to the license that have been requested by the company. It is the company that is pushing mission by mission approvals that's that's what the pace is about."
In its statement released today, SpaceX revealed that the FAA has told it that the fifth Starship test flight can receive launch license approval for late November at the earliest after the FAA's "previously communicated date of mid-September."
According to the company, the two key reasons behind the delay are the interstage hot staging ring and the landing profile to catch the Starship Super Heavy with the launch tower. These have caused the FAA to request additional 60-day consultations with the National Marine Fisheries Service for the hot stage ring and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the landing profile.
For the ring, SpaceX shared that the "only proposed modification for Starship’s fifth flight is a marginal change in the splashdown location of the hot-stage which produces no increase in likelihood for impacting marine life." Since Starship Super Heavy will return to the launch tower, it will inevitably create sonic booms, and "as a slightly larger area could experience a sonic boom," the FAA has requested additional consultations, according to SpaceX.
SpaceX previously released a detailed assessment of why Starship sonic booms won't be dangerous in July when the FAA had opened up its assessment for the firm's plan to rapidly increase Starship launch cadence in Texas.
A test flight in November might be the last Starship test in 2024, which could impact SpaceX's work with NASA, which requires testing of key technologies such as in space cryogenic fuel transfer.
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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