SpaceX has examined its new Starship megarocket ahead of its upcoming test flight, the company says.
Spaceshipthe largest and most powerful rocket ever built, consists of two fully reusable elements: a massive first stage called Super Heavy and an upper-stage spacecraft known as Starship, or simply Ship. A stacked Starship has flown four times to date, but SpaceX plans to increase that number soon.
“Flight 5 Starship and Super Heavy are ready to fly, pending regulatory approval,” the company said via X Thursday afternoon (August 8) “Further rocket capture testing and Flight 6 vehicle testing are planned while awaiting clearance to fly.”
That regulatory approval would presumably come from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which issues licenses for launches from U.S. soil.
Related: SpaceX tests Starship Super Heavy rocket ahead of fifth flight (video)
As for the second part of that post: SpaceX intends to catch the returning Super Heavy during the Flight 5 mission, Using the “stick” arms from the launch tower at its Starbase site in South Texas.
SpaceX has never attempted anything like this before. During Starship’s first four test flights, which took place in April and November 2023, and in March and June of this year, the company aimed to bring Super Heavy down to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico.
SpaceX achieved this in The June Flightwhich the company called a complete success. The Starship upper stage also splashed down, surviving its re-entry into the atmosphere. Earth's atmosphere and descending into the Indian Ocean.
This was a first for both stages of Starship: neither Super Heavy nor Starship hit the water intact on any of the first three test flights.
SpaceX has now tested the engines on both stages of the Flight 5 vehicle, firing all 33 of the Super Heavy's Raptor engines. July 15th and the six Raptors on the ship July 26thThese tests, known as static fires, are common pre-launch rehearsals for rockets.
SpaceX has big plans for Starship, seeing the vehicle as a major breakthrough that will facilitate the colonization of the Moon and Mars Finally economically viable.
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