SpaceX has inspected its latest Starship mega rocket ahead of its upcoming test flight, the company said.
Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, consists of two fully reusable elements – a huge first stage called Super Heavy and an upper stage spacecraft called Starship, or simply Ship. A fully equipped Starship has flown four times so far, but SpaceX plans to increase that number soon.
“Flight 5 Starship and Super Heavy are ready to fly, subject to regulatory approval,” the company said Thursday afternoon (August 8) via X. “While we await flight clearance, additional testing of the booster cap and Flight 6 vehicle is planned.”
This regulatory approval would probably come from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which issues licenses for takeoffs from American soil.
Related: SpaceX tests Super Heavy Starship booster before 5th flight (video)
On to the second part of this post: SpaceX intends to intercept the returning Super Heavy during the Flight 5 mission using the “stick” arms of the launch tower at its Starbase site in South Texas.
SpaceX has never attempted this before. During the first four Starship test flights – which took place in April 2023, November 2023 and March and June of this year – the company wanted to drop Super Heavy off the ground for a water landing in the Gulf of Mexico.
SpaceX managed to do this on its flight in June, which the company celebrated as a complete success. The Starship’s upper stage also splashed down, survived re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere and landed in the Indian Ocean.
This was a first for both Starship stages: Neither Super Heavy nor Ship reached the water undamaged during any of the first three test flights.
SpaceX has already tested the engines in both phases of Flight 5. On July 15, the Super Heavy’s 33 Raptor engines were fired, and on July 26, the Ship’s six Raptor engines were fired. These tests, known as static firings, are common tests before rockets launch.
SpaceX has big plans for Starship and sees the vehicle as a breakthrough that will finally make colonization of the Moon and Mars economically viable.
