SpaceX’s next Starship megarocket is officially cleared to fly.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday (June 4) issued a launch permit to SpaceX for its Starship Flight 4 test mission, which is currently scheduled to lift off no later than Thursday, June 6, from Starbase near Boca Chic Beach. in South Texas.
«The FAA has approved license authorization for SpaceX Starship Flight 4,» FAA officials wrote in a statement. «SpaceX has met all safety and other licensing requirements for this test flight.»
Related: SpaceX targets June 6 for next Starship megarocket launch (photos)
As its name suggests, SpaceX’s Starship Flight 4 mission is the fourth test flight of the company’s Starship and Super Heavy launch vehicles. When fully assembled, they stand nearly 400 feet tall and are the largest and most powerful rocket in the world. SpaceX designed Starship as a fully reusable ultra-heavy lift launch system for missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. NASA’s Artemis program, for example, has chosen Starship as the lander that will carry Artemis 3 astronauts to the moon’s south pole in 2026.
But before Starship can fly to the moon, SpaceX must prove that the shiny stainless steel rocket can reach orbit.
The company has conducted three test flights to date: a failed debut in April 2023 that destroyed SpaceX’s launch pad as well as the rocket; a second flight in November of that year that also failed to reach space; and the most recent launch of Starship Flight 3 on March 18 of this year, which reached space for the first time before the vehicle and its Super Heavy booster were lost before reaching their final drop targets.
After each Starship launch test, the FAA conducted lengthy investigations of the malfunctions and made recommendations that SpaceX had to address before each subsequent launch attempt. For Starship Flight 4, SpaceX and the FAA agreed on a different approach.
«As part of its license modification application, SpaceX proposed three scenarios involving Starship entry that would not require a vehicle loss investigation. The FAA approved the scenarios as test damage exceptions after evaluating them as part of a flight safety and flight hazard analysis and confirming that they met public safety requirements,» FAA officials said in a statement. «If a different anomaly occurs with a Starship vehicle, an investigation might be warranted, as if an anomaly occurs with a Super Heavy booster rocket.»
That agreement suggests SpaceX has identified three likely ways its Starship or Super Heavy could fail (such as loss during reentry) that the company and the FAA agreed did not need a lengthy investigation. The three scenarios do not appear to be detailed in the FAA’s 6 page launch license.
For Flight 4, SpaceX aims to fly its Starship and Super Heavy booster on a similar trajectory to its test Flight 3, a mission that would launch the Starship vehicle to orbital velocity and then re-enter the spacecraft over the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, the Super Heavy booster is expected to return to South Texas and make a controlled «landing» in the Gulf of Mexico.
«The fourth flight test shifts our focus from achieving orbit to demonstrating the return and reuse capability of the Starship and Super Heavy,» SpaceX wrote in a mission statement. controlled entry of the Starship.»
In recent weeks, SpaceX has conducted a series of fueling tests for the Flight 4 Starship and its Super Heavy booster. Both vehicles apparently passed with excellent marks.
«Starship is ready to fly,» SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday (June 3).
