SpaceX is targeting July to attempt the first orbital flight of its Starship spacecraft, according to company President Gwynne Shotwell. On the other hand, SpaceX still does not have the necessary authorizations to operate such a test.
That was almost two months ago. On May 5, the Starship SN15 prototype achieved what no other before it had managed to do:take off at an altitude of ten kilometers and land successfully after performing a reversal maneuver. While SpaceX originally appeared to be planning a second suborbital flight of this vehicle, all eyes finally turned to the SN20 prototype, tasked with an even more ambitious mission:to reach space.
In a file filed with the Federal Communications Commission on May 13, SpaceX presented the flight plan for this highly anticipated mission. During this test, the SN20 and its prototype Super Heavy booster will take off from Starbase, Texas. The booster will then separate from the Starship approximately 170 seconds into the flight before returning to land in the Gulf of Mexico approximately thirty kilometers from the coast.
For its part, the Starship SN20 will continue its ascent between the Florida Straits to reach an altitude of approximately 115 km before attempting a landing at sea off the north coast -west of Kauai, Hawaii. The entire flight should last approximately 1.5 hours.
The big question now is when that first orbital flight might take place. Speaking at the National Space Society's International Space Development Conference (ISDC) on June 25, Gwynne Shotwell, the President of SpaceX, noted her intention to plan this flight as early as next July .
“I hope we get there, but we all know it's hard” , she continued. "We are very close to flying this system, or at least attempting the first orbital flight of this system, in the very short term" .
The July deadline still seems very ambitious. Indeed, in its file filed on May 13 with the FCC, SpaceX requested a license authorizing the launch of this mission for a period of six months, starting on June 20. The current one only covers Starship suborbital flights. However, the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation has not yet issued this license.
Before this request is validated, or not, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will first have to report the conclusions of its environmental review for orbital launches from Boca Chica (Texas). ). This assessment could conclude that such launches will not have a significant impact, or that certain mitigation measures will be necessary to authorize them. Finally, it is also possible that a more detailed environmental study will be necessary, in which case the delivery of the permit would be delayed for several months.
