SpaceX is getting closer to making the first orbital launch of Starship.

 

Before making its first attempt at an orbital launch in the "coming weeks," SpaceX claims to be getting ready for a final set of tests on its Starship vehicle.

SpaceX and its CEO, Elon Musk, claim that their Starship vehicle will make its first orbital launch attempt, but the company must first overcome technical and regulatory obstacles.

The final round of Starship and Super Heavy booster tests at SpaceX's Starbase test site in Boca Chica, Texas, was announced on January 12 via Twitter. On January 9, the company placed Ship 24, a Starship vehicle, on top of Booster 7, a Super Heavy booster, on the launch pad there.

The company claims that a wet "full stack" dress rehearsal for the combined vehicle is one of those tests. The following test, a static-fire test using all 33 Raptor engines on Booster 7, would be the first to use all 33 engines simultaneously.

These tests would clear the way for an attempt at orbital launch from a technical standpoint. SpaceX did not give an estimate for when that launch might take place other than "weeks ahead."

Musk, on the other hand, has been more open. We stand a real chance at the end of February. On January 7, he tweeted, "March launch attempt appears highly likely" in response to a claim that the launch was planned for the end of January, citing a South Texas publication.

However, SpaceX has missed a number of estimates Musk and others made regarding the schedule for the initial Starship orbital launch. At a February 2022 event with a fully loaded Starship as the backdrop, Musk estimated that the vehicle would be ready to fly in "a couple months."

At a meeting of the advisory committee at the end of October, a NASA official predicted that Starship would be ready for launch as early as early December after completing a 33-engine static-fire test of the booster and a wet dress rehearsal of the entire vehicle. NASA is keeping a close eye on the development of Starship because it intends to use a version of it as a lunar lander for Artemis missions. SpaceX has received two NASA grants totaling more than $4 billion to develop those landers.

It is unclear why SpaceX did not meet both Musk's prediction in February and the more recent estimate from NASA. When propellants beneath a Super Heavy booster ignited during a test in July, causing damage to the booster, the company suffered a significant test setback.

In addition to significant technical milestones, SpaceX needs a launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration in order to launch a Starship into orbit. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) completed an environmental review in June, allowing Starship to launch orbital missions from Boca Chica but requiring the company to implement over 75 environmental mitigation measures.

"The timeframe for SpaceX to implement the more than 75 FAA required environmental mitigations for its Starship/Super Heavy program varies," stated the Federal Aviation Administration. For example, while some measures must be taken before the launch, others are meant to be done after the launch or in the event of a mishap. The FAA will keep an eye on SpaceX's compliance with all required mitigations.