Artykuły o Starship

[Orionid]

FAA releases draft environmental report on SpaceX Starship orbital launches
by Jeff Foust — September 20, 2021 [SN]


SpaceX personnel attach a Starship vehicle to its Super Heavy in an August test. Orbital launches of Starship/Super Heavy can't begin until after the FAA completes an environmental assessment of those proposed launches. Credit: SpaceX

KIHEI, Hawaii — A draft environmental assessment released by the Federal Aviation Administration suggests that SpaceX will be able to proceed with orbital Starship launches from Texas, but with a number of mitigations required.

Source: https://spacenews.com/faa-releases-draft-environmental-report-on-spacex-starship-orbital-launches/

[Orionid]

SpaceX’s orbital Starship launch debut may be pushed to 2022 by slow FAA reviews
ByEric Ralph Posted on September 21, 2021 [T]

In a rare sign of material progress, SpaceX and the FAA have finally released what is known as a draft environmental assessment (EA) of the company’s South Texas Starship launch plans.

Set to be the largest and most powerful rocket in spaceflight history when it first begins orbital launches, the process of acquiring permission to launch Starship and its Super Heavy booster out of the wetlands of the South Texas coast was never going to be easy. The Boca Chica site SpaceX ultimately settled on for its first private launch facilities – initially meant for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy but later dedicated to BFR (now Starship) – is simultaneously surrounded by sensitive coastal habitats populated by several threatened or endangered species and situated mere miles as the crow flies from a city whose temporary population oscillates from a few thousand to tens of thousands.

Source: https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-orbital-launch-delays-slow-faa-reviews/

[Orionid]

Musk says Starship may be ready for orbital launch next month, but FAA review continues
October 22, 2021 Stephen Clark [SFN]


Crews at SpaceX’s Starbase test site in South Texas stack the company’s first full-scale Starship launch vehicle for a fit check in August. Credit: SpaceX

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of SpaceX, said Friday the company’s huge new Starship rocket could be ready for its first orbital test launch from South Texas as soon as November, but the schedule comes with two big uncertainties that may push the launch to next year.

Source: https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/10/22/musk-says-starship-may-be-ready-for-orbital-launch-next-month-but-faa-review-continues/

[Orionid]

Musk predicts first Starship orbital launch in early 2022
by Jeff Foust — November 17, 2021 [SN]


Elon Musk said the first orbital Starship launch could take place as soon as January, assuming the FAA completes an environmental review and issues a launch license by the end of this year. Credit: SpaceX

LAS VEGAS — SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk said he expects this first orbital flight of his company’s Starship vehicle to take place as soon as January, pending regulatory approvals.

Source: https://spacenews.com/musk-predicts-first-starship-orbital-launch-in-early-2022/

[Orionid]

SpaceX targets January or February for first launch of world’s largest rocket
November 18, 2021 Stephen Clark [SFN]


SpaceX test-fired six Raptor engines on the Starship rocket Nov. 12. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX’s team in South Texas is gearing up to be ready for the first combined launch of the Super Heavy booster and Starship mega-rocket as soon as January, assuming the company completes launch pad construction, ground testing, and secures regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, founder Elon Musk said Wednesday.

Source: https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/11/18/spacex-targets-january-or-february-for-first-launch-of-worlds-largest-rocket/

[Orionid]

SpaceX considers shifting Starship testing to Florida
by Jeff Foust — February 11, 2022 [SN]


A fully stacked orbital Starship launch vehicle was the backdrop for Elon Musk's update on vehicle development Feb. 10 in Boca Chica, Texas. Credit: SpaceX webcast

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — SpaceX is prepared to shift testing of its Starship next-generation launch vehicle from Texas to Florida if there are extended delays in an ongoing environmental review, company founder and chief executive Elon Musk said Feb. 10.

In a long-awaited, and long-delayed, update about development of Starship at the company’s Boca Chica, Texas, test site, Musk said he thought the Federal Aviation Administration would complete an environmental review and award SpaceX a launch license for Starship launches as soon as March.

Source: https://spacenews.com/spacex-considers-shifting-starship-testing-to-florida/

[Orionid]

Musk foresees Florida as a home for Starship operations
February 11, 2022 Stephen Clark [SFN]


Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, stands with a fully-stacked Starship launch vehicle in South Texas on Thursday night. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX plans to transform parts of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to become an operational base for the company’s super-powerful Starship launcher, while keeping a sprawling complex in South Texas as a research and development location for the heavy-lift rocket program, Elon Musk said Thursday.

Source: https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/02/11/musk-foresees-florida-as-a-long-term-home-for-starship-operations/

FAA again delays completion of Starship environmental review
by Jeff Foust — March 26, 2022 [SN]


SpaceX showed off a completed Starship/Super Heavy vehicle in February, but that vehicle now appears unlikely to perform the first orbital launch attempt once the FAA awards a license to the company. Credit: SpaceX

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration has again delayed completion of an environmental assessment for orbital launches of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle from Texas, although it may have no effect on near-term launch plans.

Source: https://spacenews.com/faa-again-delays-completion-of-starship-environmental-review/

Head of U.S. Space Force launch operations ‘watching Starship closely’
by Sandra Erwin — April 4, 2022 [SN]


Starship launch vehicle stacked in Boca Chica, Texas. Credit: SpaceX

Brig. Gen. Stephen Purdy: Seeing Starbase 'gives you a lot of ideas of what the future could be'

COLORADO SPRINGS – Brig. Gen. Stephen Purdy was in Boca Chica, Texas, last month visiting Starbase. That is SpaceX’s launch and rocket manufacturing and testing facility where the company hopes to operate Starship, the largest rocket ever built.
https://spacenews.com/xplore-acquires-kubos/

FAA environmental review to allow Starship orbital launches after changes
by Jeff Foust — June 13, 2022 [SN]


SpaceX will still need to carry out the environmental mitigations specified by the FAA and receive a launch license before it can attempt a Starship/Super Heavy launch. Credit: SpaceX

PASADENA, Calif. — A Federal Aviation Administration environmental review has concluded that SpaceX can conduct orbital launches of its Starship vehicle from its Texas test site, but only after completing dozens of mitigations to reduce impacts on the environment and the public.

The FAA issued June 13, after nearly half a year of delays, what is formally known as a mitigated Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for SpaceX’s proposal to perform orbital launches of its Starship vehicle, atop its Super Heavy booster, from Boca Chica, Texas. The mitigated FONSI means that SpaceX is cleared, from an environmental standpoint, to carry out those launches once it implements more than 75 measures to mitigate environmental effects.
https://spacenews.com/faa-environmental-review-to-allow-starship-orbital-launches-after-changes/

FAA moves SpaceX a step closer to receiving Starship launch license
June 13, 2022 Stephen Clark [SFN]


An aerial photo of SpaceX’s Starship launch complex near Boca Chica Beach, Texas. Credit: SpaceX

The FAA is requiring SpaceX take more than 75 actions to reduce the environmental effects of flying its gigantic 40-story-tall Starship rocket from South Texas, but regulators said Monday they found no significant impacts and moved SpaceX a step closer to receiving a launch license.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/06/13/faa-moves-spacex-a-step-closer-to-receiving-starship-launch-license/

Second segment added to Starship launch tower at Kennedy Space Center
June 23, 2022 Stephen Clark [SFN]



The second section of the Florida launch tower for SpaceX’s huge Super Heavy and Starship rocket was lifted on top of the first tower segment Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center, continuing construction of a structure that will stand more than 400 feet tall.

SpaceX transferred the second metal tower segment — itself as tall as a five-story building — from a staging and construction site at the company’s Roberts Road at the Kennedy Space Center facility to Launch Complex 39A Wednesday night. A large crane at pad 39A lifted the second tower section onto the lower segment Thursday morning.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/06/23/second-segment-added-to-starship-launch-tower-at-kennedy-space-center/

Starship booster test ends in fiery anomaly
by Jeff Foust — July 12, 2022 [SN]


SpaceX rolled the Super Heavy vehicle called Booster 7 to the pad at Boca Chica, Texas, in June for tests. One such test July 11 ended with flames unexpectedly erupting from the base of the booster. Credit: SpaceX

WASHINGTON — A test of the booster for SpaceX’s first orbital Starship vehicle July 11 ended with flames erupting unexpectedly from the base of the vehicle, triggering a fire at the pad.

Video of testing activities at SpaceX’s Starbase complex at Boca Chica, Texas, showed a burst of flames at the base of the Super Heavy booster called Booster 7 around 5:20 p.m. Eastern. Later, at least one fire was seen in the vicinity of the pad, presumably triggered by the incident, sending a plume of black smoke into the air.
https://spacenews.com/starship-booster-test-ends-in-fiery-anomaly/

SpaceX adds fourth tower segment to Florida Starship launch pad
July 21, 2022 Stephen Clark [SFN]


The fourth section of SpaceX’s Starship launch pad tower was lifted over the lower three segments Thursday morning. Credit: Spaceflight Now

The fourth of nine sections for SpaceX’s Starship launch pad gantry was moved to Launch Complex 39A Wednesday night for stacking, following the emplacement of the tower’s first three segments last month.

The transfer of the five-story-tall structure from SpaceX’s construction site at the company’s Roberts Road facility to pad 39A stretched about 7 miles (11 kilometers) and was completed around nightfall Wednesday. The gantry section rode a 96-wheel self-propelled transporter for the road trip to pad 39A.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/07/21/spacex-adds-fourth-tower-segment-to-florida-starship-launch-pad/

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