The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has licensed SpaceX, a space company owned by Elon Musk, to fly the Starship rocket for the first time. Just three days ago, Musk announced that the giant rocket was ready. Now the Starship is scheduled to start a test flight next Monday.
The FAA has found in a comprehensive review that SpaceX meets all the necessary requirements, reports Reuters. The tests were therefore carried out under the aspects of “safety, environment, politics, payload, runway integration and financial responsibility”. The license is valid for five years, the FAA said on Friday.
Test flight planned for next Monday
The test flight that will put the Starship into orbit for the first time is scheduled for April 7, 2023, explains SpaceX on Twitter. According to the notification submitted by the authorities, the launch window is between 5:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Central time (between 12:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. in Germany). The giant rocket is to be launched from the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica (Texas).
Musk originally planned to launch the Starship in March, with the rocket flying from Texas to Hawaii on its first orbital flight. In January of this year, SpaceX successfully completed an important test of the giant rocket with the “wet dress rehearsal” – the launch preparations were played through until just before the engines were ignited.
(bme)
