15/11/2023 – 21:29
The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorized SpaceX this Wednesday (15) to carry out the second launch of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, after a previous attempt in April that resulted in a big explosion.
In a statement, the FAA stated that Elon Musk’s company “met responsibility requirements in terms of safety, environment, regulation and finance” after the incident in Starship’s first orbital test.
“We are scheduling Friday, November 17th, for the second Starship test flight,” SpaceX announced on the X network, formerly Twitter, after authorization.
A two-hour window will be opened for the launch at 7:00 am local time (10:00 am Brasília) at the company’s facilities in Boca Chica, in the state of Texas.
The live stream will be available on the X network and the SpaceX website.
On April 20, SpaceX’s unmanned rocket exploded four minutes after launch. Starship faced several engine failures.
The rocket disintegrated, causing a huge explosion and falling into the Gulf of Mexico, raising a cloud of dust that spread for several kilometers.
The FAA quickly launched an investigation, while conservation groups announced they would sue the agency for not doing enough to protect the environment, given the proximity of its activities to protected species habitats.
The Starship is 120 meters tall and generates 7,600 tons of thrust at launch, more than twice the power of the Saturn V rockets that took the Apollo mission to the Moon.
Starship is designed to be reusable, and both parts of the rocket are expected to return to Earth, significantly reducing costs.
SpaceX envisions it being the vehicle that will eventually transport cargo and crew to Mars. NASA acquired a version of Starship as a landing module for the Artemis program, with which it plans to take astronauts back to the Moon in the middle of this decade.
The flight plan for the new launch will be similar to that of April. After separation, Starship will continue at an altitude “slightly below orbit,” according to Musk, and land in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.
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