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[EN VIDÉO] SpaceX: repeat of the successful flight of the Starship prototype SN15 Watch the altitude flight of SpaceX’s Starship prototype SN15. The machine was…
More than six months after the first flight of the Starship, the fate of which is known, the second launch appears to be imminent. At Starbase SpaceXSpaceXhence the rocket shiprocket ship giant will take off, we are ready to ignite the powerful engines of the launch vehicle. Only the flight permit is missing. We will explain it to you.
Awaiting the findings of the environmental investigation
According to various sites InternetInternet In the United States, regulatory challenges surrounding the Starship flight now focus on completing an environmental review, currently the responsibility of the Aquatic Life Protection and Conservation Service. wild animalswild animals (FWS). This body evaluates adjustments to the rocket, the infrastructure and the ground portion of the spacecraft. Last week, the FAA, which oversees private launches in the United States, announced it had completed its safety review of the Super Heavy and Starship, but is still waiting for the FWS report before making a clearance decision for the Starship’s return to flight.
Several endangered species
To understand the position of the agency responsible for protecting life in aquatic environments and wildlife, which plays the wrong role in delaying the return to flight of the giant rocket, you need to know that the SpaceX launch site, the Starbase, is surrounded by virgin spaces that serve as habitat and shelter for endangered animal habitats such as the knot, the jaguarondijaguarondithe population ofocelotsocelots and the sea turtlessea turtlesincluding the Kemp’s Ridley, which nests on the beaches of Boca Chica, one of the most endangered sea turtles in the world. One of these habitats has even been designated as essential for a kindkind bybirdbird endangered, the plover.
The launch of the Starship nevertheless represents a risky test flight
The spaceship about to take off has undergone changes from its first test flight. Of the equipment and elements involved are Elon MuskElon Musk emphasized that the system of partingparting of the giant rocket represents the “ riskiest part of the flight » and warned “ I don’t have too high expectations for this second flight », taking a less optimistic tone than usual.
As planned, the mission flight plan remains similar to the first partially failed attempt. After separation, the spacecraft will make a brief passage through “space” at an altitude of about 155 miles, following a nearly complete orbit around Earth. Finally he willatmosphereatmosphere to conduct a controlled water landing in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.
SpaceX: The spaceship’s second launch attempt could happen in December
Article by Remy Decourt, published on 30/10/2023
Just five months after the spaceship’s in-flight explosion, SpaceX says it is ready to fly its giant rocket again. While they wait for the FAA, the US civil aviation agency, to clear the Starship’s return, the company is preparing for a second attempt, which could take place in December.
A few days ago, representatives from SpaceX,AmazonAmazon and Blue Origin met with several political figures and members of the Senate Subcommittee on Space and Science to alert them to the processes of certificationcertification and flight clearance from the FAA, the federal aviation agency that regulates private launches in the United States, the duration of which slows down their space operations. These companies obviously do not want to escape the FAA’s regulatory control, but are demanding greater efficiency in issuing launch licenses. Nowadays, a flight authorization application can take up to 135 days!
Flight permit granted in a few weeks
Apparently they were heard. Shortly after this meeting, the FAA said it was committed to issuing an opinion on authorizing the Starship’s second integrated flight well before the 135 days allowed by the certification process.
It is therefore now more understandable in this regulatory context that SpaceX is preparing its giant rocket for a second demonstration flight, just five months after the first partially failed attempt. You should know that this launcher has been ready since mid-September.
Several Starship flights in 2023 and 2024
Aware that the goal of an American crew on the moon in 2025 is out of reach, the company SpaceX has announced plans to carry out at least two Starship flights this year – which seems difficult to us – and many other flights in the year 2024 Although she has been careful not to specify the number of missions for 2024, we know that she is planning a major demonstration in transfer jobtransfer job fuel between a spaceship in a manned version (but which will be uninhabited for the time being) and a spaceship in cargo mode.
Artemis III in the picture
While NASANASA is preparing Artemis II, scheduled to launch in late 2024, the next mission, Artemis III, is the one that will enable two Americans to land on the moon aboard SpaceX’s Lunar Starship. But, LisaLisa Watson-Morgan, program manager Human landing system (HLS), said it is concerned about SpaceX’s spacecraft development schedule, which could delay Americans’ return to the moon by several years!