FAA Approves Starship IFT-5 Test Flight Tomorrow

Today the FAA approved SpaceX’s plan to launch the fifth Integrated Flight Test, IFT-5, of its Starship/Super Heavy rocket. In fact, the FAA approved multiple launches using the IFT-5 profile as well as changes SpaceX requested for IFT-6, although further modifications could entail additional review. SpaceX plans to launch IFT-5 from Boca Chica, Texas tomorrow, October 13, with a 30 minute launch window that opens at 7:00 am Central Time (8:00 am Eastern). For the first time, it will try to catch the Super Heavy booster as it returns to Earth.

SpaceX has been expressing optimism about getting approval for tomorrow’s launch even though the FAA said on September 11 that it didn’t anticipate finalizing a decision until the end of November. The FAA walked back that timeline on October 8, however, saying only that it would make a decision when SpaceX met all the licensing requirements.

Today it said those requirements have been met for IFT-5 as well as changes SpaceX requested for the next test flight, IFT-6.

IFT-5 includes a significant change — SpaceX’s first attempt to catch the Super Heavy booster as it returns to Earth. Reusability is SpaceX’s motto and it plans to recover and reuse the Super Heavy boosters just as it does the smaller Falcon 9s.

On IFT-4, the booster made a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. During a meeting of the Biological and Physical Sciences in Space Committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on Thursday, SpaceX’s Bill Gerstenmaier said it landed with half-a-centimeter accuracy. Apparently that gave them confidence to try to catch it with the so-called “chopsticks” attached to the launch tower on this very next flight.

Returning the booster after launch is a core capability to Starship becoming rapidly and reliably reusable pic.twitter.com/j4NSdnNiKr

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 27, 2024

The company has cautioned, however, that conditions have to be just right for them to make the attempt.

SpaceX will webcast the launch on its website.

The FAA’s approval comes after complaints from SpaceX about the length of time the government takes to review license applications. SpaceX also pushes back on environmental regulations. The FAA is responsible for ensuring public safety during commercial space launches and reentries, but also leads an interagency process that includes other federal agencies with regulatory oversight like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Fish and Wildlife Service. SpaceX has also been at odds with Texas environmental regulators.

As reported by Geoff Brumfiel of National Public Radio, environmentalists have long-standing concerns about the impact of SpaceX’s operations at Boca Chica, an area surrounded by protected habitats.

NEW: As SpaceX prepares another launch of Starship, environmentalists are expressing deep concerns about the speed of development.

Some new documents uncovered by NPR show why.

(For those in the know, this is a long take on the water deluge controversy.)https://t.co/kUJgVomGf3

— Geoff Brumfiel (@gbrumfiel) October 11, 2024

The FAA provided links to the modified license and the environmental written re-evaluation.

View the modified license.

Read the environmental written re-evaluation.