Starship Is Fully Ready For Flight 5, Pending FAA Approval

SpaceX is approaching Starship’s test flight 5, known as Integrated Flight Test 5 (IFT-5). SpaceX intends to return the vehicle for a precision landing on the Starbase launch pad using the facility’s launch tower ‘chopsticks’. According to Musk, this bold strategy will increase the ship’s flight frequency, allowing the launch vehicle to be checked, repaired, and launched more quickly.

When Is the SpaceX’s Starship Rocket Flight Test 5?

Elon Musk has updated the launch date for the fifth Starship launch, which was previously expected to happen in early August. Now, SpaceX targets late August – early September, depending on the FAA licence-obtaining process.

On 19th August, SpaceX received the FCC approval and is waiting for the green light from the FAA.

Meanwhile, the SpaceX team is busy testing its launch pad and tower arms ahead of the risky manoeuvre. SpaceX plans to catch a Super Heavy returning for landing for the first time with the special ‘’sticks‘’ of Starship’s launch tower, known as ‘’Mechazilla‘’.

SpaceX first started to test the launch tower’s arms for a booster catch in June, when it transported a piece of a rocket booster to the pad. These tests saw the tower arms, also called chopsticks, repeatedly impact the cylinder’s sides as teams tried to simulate a successful catch.

On 21 July, the Starship 5 was rolled out to the launch site for more testing ahead of the launch. The FCC communications license for IFT-5 was applied for with a start date of 19 July.

During a company all-hands in April 2024, Musk expanded briefly on the goals of Starship Flight 5, stating that the first tower landing could occur on IFT-5, depending on B11’s virtual landing performance during flight 4.

A new communications license from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has language that states there will either be a soft ocean landing like on the last flight or a catch attempt at the orbital launch site.

The company said this approach will significantly reduce the recovery and re-launch time of the super rocket.

SpaceX fires up Starship spacecraft

Meanwhile, SpaceX is actively preparing for the fifth test flight and has already conducted a successful engine test. The company performed a “static fire” with the 165-foot-tall (50 meters) Starship upper stage on Friday afternoon, 26 July, at its Starbase facility.

With Super Heavy booster secured to the launchpad, the rocket’s 33 Raptor engines fire at full thrust for about 20 seconds in video captured and shared by SpaceX in a post on X.

Lessons learned

Since Starship performed as expected last time, SpaceX has fewer issues to analyse before the next launch.

‘All flight activities for both the Starship and the Super Heavy launch vehicle appear to have occurred within planned and permitted activities,’ the FAA said.

Therefore, the timeline to prepare for Starship Flight 5 was driven not by regulatory approval but by the technical readiness of the team and infrastructure.

SpaceX’s Starship booster for the fifth flight has been developing for quite some time. Even before the fourth flight launched early last month, SpaceX launched the Starship statically as part of its rapid test ramp, which aims to shorten the time between tests. 

However, on the Starship fourth flight, the upper fin of the second stage caught fire, and immediately after the test, SpaceX began replacing all of the heat shield tiles as part of the upgrade.

Also, multiple tests occurred with the hydraulic arms on the launch tower in preparation for the booster catch.

Background

Starship is built to send more than 150 tonnes or 100 people into space at a time.

Starship’s most enticing feature is its ability to transport humans to Mars and beyond. Unlike Falcon 9, which uses rocket propellant as its fuel, the Starship is designed to use liquid oxygen and methane.

Musk aims to send the first humans to Mars in the mid-2020s before establishing the first city on Mars by 2050.

Starship’s four previous test flights took place in April and November 2023 and 14 March and 6 June this year.