SpaceX has shared images of it Starship rocket stacked and ready for a launch on its fifth flight test. The launch was originally aimed for July of this year, but was pushed back by several months due to licensing issues with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
SpaceX announced that the Starship was stacked — meaning that the Starship spacecraft has been placed atop the Super Heavy Booster — in a post this week, which was shared along with the images. “Starship stacked for Flight 5 and ready for launch, pending regulatory approval,” the company wrote on X.
The digs at the FAA have continued, including a post from the company criticizing FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker made today. The FAA will not grant a license for another launch of the Starship until it completes a license determination, which is expected in late November, following the Starship’s previous Flight 4. In that flight, the Starship made it to orbit and reentered the atmosphere to land near its target, but the vehicle was damaged during the reentry. As there was no explosion during this test flight (as there had been in previous Starship test flights), no FAA mishap investigation was required.
However, there have been environmental concerns raised about the Starship, including that it released pollutants near open water, and SpaceX was fined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for this. SpaceX has also modified the plan for Flight 5, the FAA says, which requires a further review.
For Flight 5 of the Starship, the intention is to launch the rocket into orbit, then attend to land it back at the Starbase site in Texas. As the Starship comes in to land, it will be caught in midair by the “chopsticks” fitted to the tower, which should help to stabilize it.
“This will be a singularly novel operation in the history of rocketry,” the company wrote in a blog post. “SpaceX engineers have spent years preparing and months testing for the booster catch attempt, with technicians pouring tens of thousands of hours into building the infrastructure to maximize our chances for success. Every test comes with risk, especially those seeking to do something for the first time. SpaceX goes to the maximum extent possible on every flight to ensure that while we are accepting risk to our own hardware, we accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring public safety.”
This week, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also laid about a wildly ambitious timescale of launching up to five uncrewed Starship missions to Mars within two years. However, Musk is well known for announcing ambitious timelines that do not turn out to be realistic.