SpaceX says its next Starship launch could fly as early as Oct. 13, pending FAA approval

SpaceX is preparing to launch the fifth flight of its Starship megarocket as soon as Oct. 13, despite repeated statements from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that the flight test would likely have to wait until November.

Starship last flew in June, and SpaceX nailed its launch objectives by returning the rocket to Earth as well as soft landing both Starship and its Super Heavy first-stage booster at sea. Now, SpaceX wants to attempt the first-ever return of Super Heavy to the launch pad — complete with a mid-air booster catch conducted by the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms.

“Starship’s fifth flight test is preparing to launch as soon as October 13, pending regulatory approval,” SpaceX wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday evening (Oct. 7). “Pending regulatory approval” is a big caveat here, considering the FAA’s estimation that Starship’s fifth integrated flight test (IFT-5) wouldn’t be cleared “before late November 2024.” However, this hasn’t stopped SpaceX from barreling toward Starship’s next flight as fast as it can.

During the lead-up to last night’s Oct. 13 target date announcement, SpaceX had been busy completing prep work on the IFT-5 Starship. Operators had been attending to tasks such as stacking the vehicle, performing propellant load tests and other preflight checkouts over the last month.

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In light of the FAA’s resistance to SpaceX’s preferred timeline, the company has also been applying public pressure to the government agency. In a lengthy post on SpaceX’s website, titled “Starships Are Meant to Fly,” SpaceX claims the FAA’s November timeline is “driven by superfluous environmental analysis,” and disputes the FAA’s assertion that SpaceX did not operate under the appropriate permits. “At no time did SpaceX operate the deflector without a permit,” the update says, adding “[the Environmental Protection Agency] has agreed that nothing about the operation…needs to change.”

NASA, too, is eager to see SpaceX complete the development of Starship, a vehicle the space agency has contracted to land astronauts on the moon as a part of the Artemis 3 mission, currently targeting 2026 for launch. And, as early as June 2023, officials at NASA began voicing concerns about Starship’s availability come mission time. In order to receive NASA’s stamp of approval, Starship has to meet extremely stringent qualification standards as well as complete several flights, which includes an uncrewed mission to the lunar surface, and back.