FAA says SpaceX’s Starship won’t be licensed to fly again until late November

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft will remain grounded for some time.

Starship — the largest and most powerful rocket ever built — flew for the fourth time in June, and SpaceX has since been preparing for a fifth flight. But that test mission is likely to take place for at least 2.5 months, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“SpaceX must meet all safety, environmental, and other 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 until late November 2024.”

The statement explained how the FAA determined this timeline.

“SpaceX’s current launch license for Starship Flight 4 also allows for multiple flights with the same vehicle configuration and mission profile. SpaceX has elected to modify both elements for the proposed Starship Flight 5 launch, which prompted a more in-depth review,” agency officials wrote.

“In addition, SpaceX submitted new information in mid-August detailing how the environmental impacts of Flight 5 will extend beyond what was previously analyzed,” they added. “This requires FAA consultation with other agencies.”

Related: SpaceX tests Super Heavy Starship launch vehicle ahead of fifth flight (video)

a huge rocket takes off with a cloudy sky behind it

The fourth test flight of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft will take place on June 6, 2024. (Photo source: SpaceX)

SpaceX is not happy about this development. In a blog post published Tuesday (September 10), the company wrote that the FAA had previously stated that a license review would likely take place in mid-September.

The Starship spacecraft that will carry out Flight 5 is expected to be ready to fly by early August, SpaceX added, saying the delay in issuing the license “was not due to new safety concerns but to unnecessary environmental analysis.”

“We have found ourselves delayed for unjustified and infuriating reasons,” SpaceX added in a Tuesday post. The lengthy document, titled “Starships Are Designed to Fly,” also expressed broader frustration with the regulatory environment SpaceX and other launch service providers must navigate.

“Unfortunately, we are still stuck in a reality where more time is spent on government paperwork related to licensing a launch than on designing and building the hardware itself,” SpaceX wrote. “This should never have happened and directly threatens America’s position as a leader in space.”

The Starship spacecraft consists of two components that are designed to be fully and rapidly reusable: a giant booster called Super Heavy and a 165-foot (50-meter) upper stage called Starship, or Ship for short.

SpaceX is developing a stainless steel vehicle — which will be 122 meters tall when fully assembled — that will help humanity settle the Moon and Mars, as well as enable many other ambitious exploration endeavors.

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 subsequent mission. For example, it performed admirably on Flight 4; the ship reached orbital speed on schedule, and both it and the Super Heavy survived the journey through Earth’s atmosphere, landing in the ocean as planned.

Flight 5 will have a new twist: The Super Heavy will attempt to land back on the launch pad at Starbase, SpaceX’s Starship launch and production center in South Texas. This strategy will be the foundation for the future, if all goes according to plan, enabling faster inspection, refurbishment and re-flight of Starship in the future.

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FAA says SpaceX’s Starship won’t be licensed to fly again until late November

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