SpaceX Starship stacked for launch rehearsal, awaits FAA license
SpaceX has successfully stacked its latest Starship prototype, the upper stage Ship 25, on top of Booster 9, at the Starbase facility in South Texas. This exciting development is part of the preparations for the upcoming second test flight of Starship. Currently, the company is working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to secure a launch license for the test flight.
Starship flew for the first time ever in April
The FAA recently concluded its investigation of Starship's first-ever test flight which happened on April 20. The goal of that flight was to send the upper-stage spacecraft, also named Starship, partway around Earth, with a splashdown planned in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. Unfortunately, the vehicle faced several issues shortly after liftoff, including a failure of its two stages to separate. As a result, SpaceX intentionally destroyed the spacecraft over the Gulf of Mexico.
Technical readiness achieved, awaiting FAA launch license
Over a month ago, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the latest Starship vehicle is technically ready for launch. The company has successfully carried out test-firing of the Raptor engines on both stages of the rocket. However, SpaceX is still waiting for a launch license from the FAA before moving forward with the second test flight. The second flight will have similar objectives as the first one, to send the upper-stage spacecraft partway around the Earth.
Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built
When fully stacked, Starship measures almost 400 feet tall, making it most powerful and largest rocket ever built. It has significantly more thrust at launch than NASA's Saturn V Moon rocket. Both stages of Starship are fully and rapidly reusable, which Musk says is essential for making Mars settlements economically feasible. This isn't the first time SpaceX has stacked this particular Starship module at its Starbase facility. The company completed a similar stacking process last month.
