SpaceX is hoping to get Starship in the air again with its second attempt at an orbital flight as early as next Friday (November 17th). It has been waiting for regulatory approval ever since its first failed attempt which resulted in the rocket spinning out of control before the company triggered its self-destruct.
The company faced a lot of regulation after the first attempt failed, resulting in pieces of the rocket falling from the sky into the water and nearby land. The launch pad was destroyed since it didn’t have a proper cooling system to keep the concrete from deteriorating from the heat, causing pieces of it to go flying violently everywhere. There was also video footage circling around showing birds flying away from the rocket as it was lifting off triggering activists to claim that SpaceX didn’t make enough of an attempt to keep wildlife away before giving everything the green light to go.
These were just some of the issues the company had to resolve, with various regulations and requests being made by agencies like the FAA. All of which SpaceX feels have been resolved, including the build of the proper water deluge flame deflector system that it has tested a number of times already to make sure it can keep the landing pad safe from the heat.
Meanwhile, SpaceX has been stacking the rocket to get it ready for launch. It will once again attempt an orbital flight that will launch from Starbase in TX and eventually land in the water somewhere near the Hawaiian islands (assuming the plan doesn’t change by the time it takes flight).
Starship preparing to launch as early as November 17, pending final regulatory approval ? https://t.co/bJFjLCiTbK pic.twitter.com/qRKv9ugWsR
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 11, 2023
Of course, everything depends on the company getting that regulatory approval from the FAA. Its stacking of the rocket is a sign of pressure on the government or simply a sign of hope that the government will consider things simply because the company is tweeting about it getting everything pumped up about it. It is also likely concerned about the latest news about worker injuries that surfaced. The result of hiding worker injury data from the public, which most large companies attempt to do, sadly.
Update 11/15/2023: SpaceX has been given the green light for launch by all regulatory agencies. With this, the second launch of Starship has been officially scheduled to take place this Friday (November 17) at 8AM ET.
