FAA wraps up safety review of SpaceX's huge Starship rocket

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But there's still another regulatory hurdle to clear before Starship can fly for the second time.

flames shoot from the bottom of a sliver rocket as it rises into a dark blue sky.
SpaceX's first fully integrated Starship vehicle rises into the South Texas sky on April 20, 2023. (Image credit: SpaceX via Twitter)

SpaceX Starship Second Flight Test Update: SpaceX launched its Starship rocket and Super Heavy booster on its second flight test on Nov. 18, 2023, but the vehicles exploded during flight. Read our coverage for full details and video.

SpaceX's giant Starship rocket just cleared a major hurdle on the road to its second-ever liftoff.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today (Oct. 31) that it has wrapped up its Starship safety review, which assesses the risks that a launch might pose to public health and property.

However, there's still another regulatory box to check before SpaceX can get a license for the next Starship liftoff.

"The FAA is continuing to work on the environmental review," the agency wrote today in an emailed statement. "As part of its environmental review, the FAA is consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on an updated Biological Assessment under the Endangered Species Act. The FAA and the USFWS must complete this consultation before the environmental review portion of the license evaluation is completed."

Related: SpaceX fuels up Starship in key test ahead of 2nd-ever flight (video, photos)

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Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. It consists of two fully reusable elements — the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage — and stands nearly 400 feet (122 meters) tall when fully stacked.

The full-size vehicle has flown just once to date, on a test flight that launched on April 20 from Starbase, SpaceX's seaside facility in South Texas. 

That mission aimed to send the Starship upper stage partway around the world, with splashdown targeted for the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. But Starship suffered several problems shortly after liftoff, including a failure of separation for its two stages. As a result, the vehicle was intentionally detonated above the Gulf of Mexico.

The FAA soon initiated a mishap investigation, which closed on Sept. 8. However, the agency stressed at the time that more work was needed before SpaceX could receive a license for liftoff number two.

"SpaceX must implement all corrective actions that impact public safety and apply for and receive a license modification from the FAA that addresses all safety, environmental and other applicable regulatory requirements prior to the next Starship launch," the agency wrote at the time.

And, as today's FAA update notes, there's still work to do on the environmental side.

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 —  Starship and Super Heavy: SpaceX's Mars-colonizing transportation system

 —  Elon Musk says SpaceX could launch a Starship to the moon 'probably sooner' than 2024: report

 — SpaceX fires up giant Starship booster for 2nd time ahead of test flight (video)

The ongoing review apparently centers on the potential impacts of a water deluge system, which SpaceX installed beneath Starbase's orbital launch mount after the April test flight. 

The new system is designed to protect the mount from the destructive power of Super Heavy's 33 Raptor engines, which was on full display on April 20: The Raptors blasted out a big crater beneath the mount, sending chunks of concrete and other debris raining down on Starbase and the surrounding area.

We should expect Starship to fly relatively soon after the environmental review wraps up, provided everything goes well. SpaceX and its founder and CEO, Elon Musk, have said that the latest vehicle has passed all of its prelaunch tests and is ready to go.

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Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • bryant
    Admin said:
    The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has completed its safety review of SpaceX's Starship — but that doesn't mean the giant vehicle has been officially cleared for its second-ever liftoff.

    FAA wraps up safety review of SpaceX's huge Starship vehicle : Read more
    Come on man, get this dog and pony show over with, nothing endangered there except beach bums
    Reply
  • Pesko
    bryant said:
    Come on man, get this dog and pony show over with, nothing endangered there except beach bums
    "Boca Chica, on the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, provides habitat for a rich diversity of wildlife, including endangered species like ocelots, piping plovers and aplomado falcons. It's one of the few places where Kemp's ridley sea turtles — the most critically endangered sea turtles on the planet — come ashore to nest."

    "Boca Chica sits at the intersection of the Rio Grande, the region’s largest river, and the Laguna Madre, the world’s largest hypersaline bay system, which creates a habitat mosaic of expansive wetlands, coastal prairies, Tamaulipan thornscrub, barrier island dune grasslands, wind-tidal flats and Gulf beaches. It is also home to federally endangered species including piping plovers, red knots, sea turtles and occasional ocelots. The lower Laguna Madre is also vital habitat for migrating shorebirds and wintering raptors. "

    When you look at the map of Starbase, you can see that it's clearly surrounded by a State Park, a Widlife Refuge, and a Wildlife Management Area, all of which were there long before Starbase. Looks like Musk and team picked the area for its launch properties (closer to the equator), not because it's location would cause less environmental impact.

    Maybe before we start spreading to other planets we should show that we're committed to protecting the environment on our current planet.
    Reply
  • TomMariner
    "the FAA is consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on an updated Biological Assessment under the Endangered Species Act. " After 40 years, Musk has put us back in the Space business but because he bought Twitter and took away a political platform he must be stopped!

    The one thing our country is the best at the world at -- "red tape". It is no accident that over the past 20 years China has built 27,000 miles of high-speed rail, while we built 0 -- NONE.
    Reply
  • Rationality
    TomMariner said:
    "the FAA is consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on an updated Biological Assessment under the Endangered Species Act. " After 40 years, Musk has put us back in the Space business but because he bought Twitter and took away a political platform he must be stopped!

    The one thing our country is the best at the world at -- "red tape". It is no accident that over the past 20 years China has built 27,000 miles of high-speed rail, while we built 0 -- NONE.
    Better to have 0 miles of high speed rail that ignores natural habitat than even one mile. If we can't live with the natural world we can't live.
    Reply
  • bp968
    Pesko said:
    "Boca Chica, on the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, provides habitat for a rich diversity of wildlife, including endangered species like ocelots, piping plovers and aplomado falcons. It's one of the few places where Kemp's ridley sea turtles — the most critically endangered sea turtles on the planet — come ashore to nest."

    "Boca Chica sits at the intersection of the Rio Grande, the region’s largest river, and the Laguna Madre, the world’s largest hypersaline bay system, which creates a habitat mosaic of expansive wetlands, coastal prairies, Tamaulipan thornscrub, barrier island dune grasslands, wind-tidal flats and Gulf beaches. It is also home to federally endangered species including piping plovers, red knots, sea turtles and occasional ocelots. The lower Laguna Madre is also vital habitat for migrating shorebirds and wintering raptors. "

    When you look at the map of Starbase, you can see that it's clearly surrounded by a State Park, a Widlife Refuge, and a Wildlife Management Area, all of which were there long before Starbase. Looks like Musk and team picked the area for its launch properties (closer to the equator), not because it's location would cause less environmental impact.

    Maybe before we start spreading to other planets we should show that we're committed to protecting the environment on our current planet.

    Starbase sits on roughly 100 acres in the middle of nowhere Texas. This isn't a new car factory or a mall we are talking about, it's our countries lead in the space program over a hostile competitor. I'm fairly certain we can figure out a way to protect the environment and humanities future on the planet without throwing a years worth of wrench into each and every test of starship.

    Not every single EPA action or action on behalf the endangered species act is righteous and "good". Especially in the case of an administration that has become actively hostile towards every business musk runs (regardless how doing so is actively damaging to the country).

    Heck the administration is all in on EVs to the tune of trillions and yet acts like Tesla doesn't exist (because it's not Union and apparently this administration is bought and paid for by the UAW).
    Reply
  • Rationality
    bp968 said:
    Starbase sits on roughly 100 acres in the middle of nowhere Texas. This isn't a new car factory or a mall we are talking about, it's our countries lead in the space program over a hostile competitor. I'm fairly certain we can figure out a way to protect the environment and humanities future on the planet without throwing a years worth of wrench into each and every test of starship.

    Not every single EPA action or action on behalf the endangered species act is righteous and "good". Especially in the case of an administration that has become actively hostile towards every business musk runs (regardless how doing so is actively damaging to the country).

    Heck the administration is all in on EVs to the tune of trillions and yet acts like Tesla doesn't exist (because it's not Union and apparently this administration is bought and paid for by the UAW).
    No it's not. It's a private for profit company and like all private for profit companies needs to follow laws and regulations or it will destroy the environment for greater profits. See Chernobyl. The middle of nowhere to you is home to others.
    Reply
  • Pesko
    bp968 said:
    Starbase sits on roughly 100 acres in the middle of nowhere Texas. This isn't a new car factory or a mall we are talking about, it's our countries lead in the space program over a hostile competitor. I'm fairly certain we can figure out a way to protect the environment and humanities future on the planet without throwing a years worth of wrench into each and every test of starship.

    Not every single EPA action or action on behalf the endangered species act is righteous and "good". Especially in the case of an administration that has become actively hostile towards every business musk runs (regardless how doing so is actively damaging to the country).

    Heck the administration is all in on EVs to the tune of trillions and yet acts like Tesla doesn't exist (because it's not Union and apparently this administration is bought and paid for by the UAW).
    The EPA and FWS carry out the environmental review functions that Congress told it to perform. If those agencies did something other than what they're doing, they wouldn't be following the law. Now, could they speed up the review process if they had more staff? Perhaps. That's why I feel like every NASA contract to commercial entities should include funds to scale up the regulatory review staffs at all agencies that are part of the permit process.
    Reply
  • Pesko
    TomMariner said:
    "the FAA is consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on an updated Biological Assessment under the Endangered Species Act. " After 40 years, Musk has put us back in the Space business but because he bought Twitter and took away a political platform he must be stopped!

    The one thing our country is the best at the world at -- "red tape". It is no accident that over the past 20 years China has built 27,000 miles of high-speed rail, while we built 0 -- NONE.
    China's infrastructure expansion has been done quickly at the expense of safety, quality, and environmental standards and are rampant with corruption. Very much not an example worth emulating.
    Reply
  • Temple
    Pesko said:
    China's infrastructure expansion has been done quickly at the expense of safety, quality, and environmental standards and are rampant with corruption. Very much not an example worth emulating.
    I am sure you don't even know where space starts
    Reply
  • Pesko
    Temple said:
    I am sure you don't even know where space starts
    Weird flex. Like most things that adults have to deal with, the answer is "it depends" but you sound like the type of person that only deals with black and white. But many people refer to 100 km as the start of outer space.

    It might surprise you, but I've been a spaceflight enthusiast since I witnessed in person the Challenger explode in 1986.
    Reply