SpaceX's Starship will remain on the ground for some time to come.
Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, flew for the fourth time in June, and SpaceX has been preparing for flight number five ever since. But that test mission is likely at least two and a half months away, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
“SpaceX must meet all safety, environmental and licensing requirements prior to FAA launch authorization,” agency officials said in an emailed statement to Space.com on Wednesday (Sept. 11). “A final licensing determination for Starship Flight 5 is not expected before late November 2024.”
The statement explained how the FAA arrived at this timeline.
“SpaceX's current license authorizing the Starship Flight 4 launch also allows for multiple flights of the same vehicle configuration and mission profile. SpaceX decided to modify both for its proposed Starship Flight 5 launch, triggering a further review,” agency officials wrote.
“In addition, SpaceX submitted new information in mid-August detailing how the environmental impact of Flight 5 will cover a larger area than previously analyzed,” they added. “This requires the FAA to consult with other agencies.”
Related: SpaceX tests Starship Super Heavy rocket ahead of fifth flight (video)
SpaceX is not happy about this development. In a blog post on Tuesday (September 10), the company wrote that the FAA had previously said the license review would likely happen in mid-September.
The Starship vehicle that will conduct Flight 5 has been technically ready to fly since early August, SpaceX added, saying the licensing delay was “not based on a new safety concern, but rather was driven by a superfluous environmental analysis.”
“We find ourselves delayed for unreasonable and infuriating reasons,” SpaceX added in Tuesday’s post. The lengthy document, titled “Starships are meant to fly,” also expressed broader frustration with the regulatory environment that SpaceX and other launch providers must navigate.
“Unfortunately, we remain stuck in a reality where it takes longer to complete the government paperwork to license a rocket to launch than it does to design and build the hardware itself,” SpaceX wrote. “This should never happen and directly threatens America's position as a leader in space.”
Starship consists of two elements, both designed to be fully and rapidly reusable: a giant booster called Super Heavy and a 165-foot-tall (50-meter) upper stage known as Starship, or Ship for short.
SpaceX is developing the stainless steel vehicle, which stands 400 feet (122 m) tall when fully loaded, to help humanity colonize the Moon and Mars, as well as carry out a variety of other ambitious exploration feats.
Starship’s four test flights took place in April and November 2023 and March and June of this year. Starship has performed better on each successive mission. For example, it performed extremely well on Flight 4; the craft reached orbital velocity as planned, and both it and Super Heavy survived their trip through Earth’s atmosphere, splashing down in the ocean as planned.
The fifth flight will feature a new twist: Super Heavy will attempt to land back on the launch pad at Starbase, SpaceX’s Starship launch and manufacturing facility in South Texas. This strategy will be the starting point for the future, if all goes according to plan, allowing for faster inspection, refurbishment, and re-evaluation of Starship in the future.