Next week's SpaceX Starship test still needs FAA authorization
- Reference: 1747313095
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/05/15/next_weeks_spacex_starship_test/
- Source link:
[1]Posting on X , Musk claimed the next launch will happen on the week beginning May 19. "Not earlier than May 21" is the date currently bandied about – we asked SpaceX for confirmation, but the company did not respond.
Musk demonstrates the planned trajectory for the next Starship test flight
The FAA, which grants permission for commercial space activities, has to give SpaceX the go-ahead before it's rocket can get off the ground next week, so the clock is ticking. A spokesperson told El Reg , "The FAA has not authorized the SpaceX Starship Flight 9 launch, in part due to outstanding issues regarding the Flight 8 mishap."
For Starship to launch again, the SpaceX-led investigation into what went wrong on Flight 8 must be accepted and closed by the FAA, or else the agency must decide that going ahead won't affect public safety and sign off to let the mission to proceed.
The FAA, which is overseeing the investigation, told The Register , "SpaceX may not launch Starship again until one of the two options is completed for the Flight 8 mishap and SpaceX meets all other licensing requirements.
[2]
Musk's expectation appears to be that the FAA will authorize a launch next week, which will feature a reuse of the Super Heavy booster used during Flight Test 7. Despite a second-stage failure on Flight Test 7, the first-stage booster returned to the launch site and was caught by arms on the launch tower.
[3]
[4]
The first-stage booster for [5]Flight Test 8 , which launched on March 7, was also successfully caught, although the second stage once again failed in what appeared to be a similar fashion to Flight Test 7. SpaceX [6]blamed the loss of the Flight Test 8 Starship on "an energetic event in the aft portion of Starship."
[7]SpaceX says bad vibes most likely cause of Starship 7 flop
[8]50 years ago the last Saturn rocket rolled out of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building
[9]SpaceX's 'Days Since Starship Exploded' counter made it to 48. It's back to zero again now
[10]Boeing warns SLS staff that job cuts could be on the way
Flight Test 7's Starship was lost at around the same point in its flight, which SpaceX attributed to an unexpectedly large [11]"harmonic response" , which put increased stress in the propulsion system and... boom.
On both occasions, debris fell back to Earth, and aircraft were diverted from the danger zone. There were no reported injuries.
What went wrong with Flight 8 is still unclear. It could be that SpaceX's fixes following Flight Test 7 were inadequate. Or an entirely new and unconnected problem occurred. It will be up to the FAA to decide if the company's investigation and modifications are sufficient before allowing another launch attempt. Since the agency regards public safety as a priority, a cheerful "third time lucky!" won't cut it. ®
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[1] https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1922435904251068436
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aCYPmxBEf4flnwbBBugpzQAAAs4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aCYPmxBEf4flnwbBBugpzQAAAs4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aCYPmxBEf4flnwbBBugpzQAAAs4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/07/spacex_starship_mission_fail/
[6] https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-8
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/26/spacex_harmonic_response_starship/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/26/50_years_since_last_saturn/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/07/spacex_starship_mission_fail/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/10/boeing_warns_sls_staff_that/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/26/spacex_harmonic_response_starship/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Firing everyone at the FAA means there is no-one to close the mishap report or issue a license but the other side of the coin is there will be no-one to issue a fine for launching without a license. The other solution is to use DOGE's backdoor treasury credentials to pay the fine with tax payers' money.
Picture of Elmo
For any sentient beings who are not fully up to speed the featured picture of That Twat Musk has nothing to do with space exploration and is instead widely interpreted as him copying a fascist salute. I know most of us know this, but no harm in clarifying matters for any visitors from outer space.
Re: Picture of Elmo
Historically that gesture has quite a lot to do with space exploration, especially American space exploration.
How many Zeigs do you think Von Braun Heill'd before he was red-white-and-blue-washed by the CIA?
Re: Picture of Elmo
Historically, that's a Roman gesture, and was used to show ones resolve : we're ready to die for the honor of victory . It was re-introduced by Mussolini in the 1920-ies with those exact references, references to the Roman honorable spirit. It was then found to be cool by the Nazis who decided to use it also. It's actually used by many organizations where people have to swear on their honor. You might notice that Hitler himself used a shortened version of that salute where he shortly raised his fore-arm only
Re: Picture of Elmo
Oh, come on, why spoil the fun? We've decided it's a Nazi salute and that's settled. I bet next you'll tell us about the swastika.
Re: Picture of Elmo
Because it is. It's historical evolution is irrelevant.
I suppose you think a 2 finger salute is literally just that, and a KKK member in full gear is just some dude in a pointy hat?
Anyway, next time you get angry seeing someone showing the Soviet communist flag, just chill out - it's just someone who likes old farming equipment.
Re: Picture of Elmo
What's a 2 finger salute? And yes, some dude dressed in white wearing a pointy hat is just that. There's a lot of world outside US.
Re: Picture of Elmo
A two finger salute, before just a raised middle finger became the more common gesture, was a raised middle and fore-finger. It (apparently) dates back to when wars were common between England and France. The English archers were greatly feared by the French, who cut those two fingers off any captured bowman to render them harmless. Hence the meaning of the gesture was that the gesturer could still shoot you, and would be quite happy to do so.
Re: Picture of Elmo
And after Adolf and Benito used it, what sort of people continued to use it? Nice, fair-minded folk from a broad part of the political spectrum?
Re: Picture of Elmo
If you really want to be historical: It was not in general use by the Romans (the ones from a few thousand years ago) at all. It was introduced as 'roman' in the 17th/18th century.
1/2 banana
On order to increase the likelihood of success, I suggest SpaceX to reduce their ambitions and only try to lift half a banana. A full banana should be reserved for when the Raptor 3 engines are fully functional.
aircraft were diverted from the danger zone
Just curious: do these rockets carry Mode-S transponders, and are they expected to operate after an earth-shattering kaboom? Or is the theory that they won't be below 40,000 feet for very long, and let the airliners rely on NOTAMs?
"an energetic event in the aft portion of Starship [Musk]."
Musk breaks wind whilst demonstrating the planned trajectory for the next Starship test flight, shattering the windscreen of a Cyber truck in the parking lot
"The FAA, which is overseeing the investigation, told The Register, "SpaceX may not launch Starship again until one of the two options is completed for the Flight 8 mishap and SpaceX meets all other licensing requirements."
Would that be "a (now former) FAA spokesperson"?
It seems like when they announce a relatively firm date for a test flight when there's a pending investigation into a previous flight, it's because the FAA has already given them the unofficial nod, so I'd suspect if there's a delay, it's not going to be because of FAA clearance. They really need this test to go right, because it's been really unusual for SpaceX going backward with the Ship on the last flight. And even the boosters, I mean, there were supposed to be fixes to address the boost-back relight issue on the last flight, but we had two engines fail to relight instead of one on the previous flight, so even with the successful tower catch, that kind of went backwards a bit too. Anyway, excitement guaranteed, I hope it happens at a time when I can watch the stream.
Can't Space-X DOGE this requirement?