The head of the FAA’s commercial space office says he thinks safety reviews needed to update the SpaceX Starship launch license can finish by October.

SpaceX is “pushing hard” to fly again as soon as possible so it can make progress on missions that will use Starship, like the Artemis lunar lander variant.

  • Sigmatics@lemmy.caEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    A separate environmental review is needed to examine changes to launch site infrastructure, including a water deluge system intended to minimize pad damage suffered in the April launch.

    Bummer

    “Once the Service reviews FAA’s final biological assessment and deems it complete, consultation will be reinitiated. We have 135 days to issue a final biological opinion,” the agency stated.

    “That piece is a little bit of a wild card,” Coleman said of that environmental review. “We’re hoping that piece will wrap up somewhere in proximity to the safety review.”

    Could be anywhere from next month to next year tbf