SpaceX May Launch Starship to Orbit in December, Says NASA

The first orbital test flight for Starship might eventually take place the following month if everything goes according to plan.

During a meeting of the NASA Advisory Council that was being live-streamed, senior NASA official Mark Kirasich, who is in charge of monitoring the development of the Artemis moon program, disclosed the information.

Kirasich is quoted as saying that NASA is tracking four big Starship missions. The first one is scheduled to take place at the beginning of December, according to Reuters, via Engadget.

Starship's First Orbital Test Flight

In accordance with the plans that SpaceX has already made, the Starship spaceship, together with its Super Heavy booster, will take off from the Boca Chica site in Texas.

The booster will separate from the Starship vehicle three minutes into the flight and land in the Gulf of Mexico, while the Starship vehicle itself will reach orbit, then return to Earth's atmosphere, and finally make an ocean landing somewhere around Hawaii.

Starship's First Orbital Test Flight is anticipated to be an hour and 30 minutes.

SpaceX's Preparations Since 2021

Since the middle of 2021, SpaceX has been preparing for the initial orbital flight of Starship, but the launch date keeps being pushed back for a variety of reasons, both technical and legal.

For instance, the environmental study conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the space corporation's launch station in Boca Chica was just recently completed and passed. Even yet, the FAA demanded that it make more than 75 adjustments to lessen its flight's negative effect on the surrounding environment. After that, the government agency would award the company a launch license for the site.

More Tests Required to Receive a Launch License

Based on a statement made by an FAA representative to Reuters, the government would only issue a launch license to the firm after SpaceX delivers all outstanding information so the agency can properly examine it.

Meanwhile, SpaceNews also noted that SpaceX must complete and pass other tests before the launch. One of these tests is a static fire test that must be performed on all 33 Raptor engines that are mounted on the Super Heavy rocket.

In July, as the Starship was undergoing a static fire assessment, propellants caught fire beneath the rocket, causing the test to finish in flames. The subsequent attempt took place in August and was successful. However, SpaceX only used a single Raptor engine on the Super Heavy.

In addition to the static fire test, Engadget reported that the Starship has to do a complete wet dress rehearsal. This involves putting a rocket that is full of propellants through the motions of a launch countdown without the rocket flying off.

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Written by Trisha Kae Andrada