SpaceX’s Starship gets US FAA nod, to launch 4th test flight on Thursday

NEW DELHI — Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX has received approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to launch the fourth test flight of the Starship vehicle.

With the licence issued on Tuesday, the 400-foot-tall Starship rocket along with the Heavy booster is expected to fly from SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas on June 6.

“SpaceX met all safety and other licensing requirements for this test flight,” stated FAA officials.

“The @SpaceX Starship launch tomorrow morning will be live-streamed exclusively on X!” SpaceX CEO Musk announced on Wednesday.

The fourth flight test looks to “achieve orbit to demonstrate the ability to return and reuse Starship and Super Heavy”, the company said in a blog post.

Earlier on Wednesday, Musk also congratulated Boeing-NASA’s first human flight to space carrying Indian-origin Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, both NASA astronauts.

“Congratulations on a successful launch!” he posted on X.

It may be noted that both Boeing and SpaceX signed a contract with NASA’s Commercial Crew Programme to fly operational missions to and from the space station with Starliner in 2014.

While Boeing launched its maiden flight on Wednesday, SpaceX’s Dragon capsules have been launching astronauts to space on its Falcon 9 rockets since 2020.

Both Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Dragon will be used to carry astronauts and cargo for NASA missions to the low Earth orbit, Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Also read: Indian-Origin Sunita Williams flies to space aboard Boeing-NASA Starliner spacecraft