It took only about four months to prepare for a second test flight after its explosive first attempt in April.
CEO Elon Musk tweeted in September that the next Starship was already prepared for liftoff — pending regulatory approval.
That regulatory piece is key: SpaceX has been after the Federal Aviation Administration — which licenses commercial rocket launches — to work more quickly.
One SpaceX executive even brought the complaints to the Senate.
“It’s a shame when our hardware is ready to fly, and we’re not able to go fly because of regulations or review,” said William Gerstenmaier — SpaceX’s vice president for build and reliability who previously served as NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration. “Licensing, including environmental (review), often takes longer than rocket development. This should never happen. And it’s only getting worse.”
Environmentalists, meanwhile, put a different kind of pressure on regulators. In May, a group of environmental organizations sued the FAA over SpaceX's activities, saying the agency failed to comply with federal environmental laws or consider the local fallout from the company's explosive testing activities.
(SpaceX and the FAA denied those claims.)
The FAA nonetheless issued a license on Wednesday for the second test flight, saying SpaceX had "met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements.”
1 min ago
The last Starship test launch ended explosively. Here’s what happened
From CNN's Jackie Wattles
SpaceX Starship explodes after launch during a flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 20. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
SpaceX first attempted to launch Starship and its Super Heavy booster in April.
But the test flight didn't get far.
Immediately it became clear not all of the Super Heavy's engines were firing, and the rocket lifted off in an almost horizontal direction.
Then, as it began to soar out over the Gulf of Mexico, the rocket began tumbling tail-over-head — and SpaceX was forced to hit the self-destruct button, exploding the rocket so it wouldn't pose any danger.
The sheer force of the rocket upon liftoff also left the launchpad in tatters, forcing SpaceX to rebuild the pad in a way that it hopes will better withstand the fiery blow of Super Heavy's 33 engines.
Despite the mishap, SpaceX sought to frame the mission as a crucial learning experience. The company has long been known to embrace explosive mistakes during rocket development — aiming to learn more quickly than if it just relied on ground tests.
19 min ago
What to expect from today's launch
From CNN's Jackie Wattles
Starship is still in a pretty early stage of the rocket development process. And it's not clear whether the vehicle will hit all its marks today — or even make it farther than the April test launch.
For his part, CEO Elon Musk likened the odds of success to a coin flip.
If all does go according to plan, it will look like this: Super Heavy will light up its engines and soar out over the Gulf of Mexico.
The booster will burn through its fuel in just a couple minutes before falling away from the Starship spacecraft.
Super Heavy will then be discarded into the ocean, though SpaceX will attempt to reignite its engines on the way down to practice how the vehicle could one day land back on dry ground so it can be be reused on future missions.
SpaceX
Starship, meanwhile, will light up its own six engines and propel itself to faster and faster speeds, with the goal of entering Earth's orbit. From there, the mission is to complete nearly one full loop around the world and splash down off the coast of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.
If all goes as planned, the mission should last about one and a half hours from beginning to end.
SpaceX will make a second attempt to successfully launch Starship, the most powerful rocket ever constructed. The uncrewed rocket is expected to take off from South Texas during a 20-minute launch window that opens at 7 a.m. CT (8 a.m. ET)
CEO Elon Musk described Starship as the vehicle that underpins SpaceX’s founding purpose: sending humans to Mars for the first time. NASA has its own plans for the rocket.
SpaceX is expected to begin a livestream of the launch 30 minutes before liftoff.
It took only about four months to prepare for a second test flight after its explosive first attempt in April.
CEO Elon Musk tweeted in September that the next Starship was already prepared for liftoff — pending regulatory approval.
That regulatory piece is key: SpaceX has been after the Federal Aviation Administration — which licenses commercial rocket launches — to work more quickly.
One SpaceX executive even brought the complaints to the Senate.
“It’s a shame when our hardware is ready to fly, and we’re not able to go fly because of regulations or review,” said William Gerstenmaier — SpaceX’s vice president for build and reliability who previously served as NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration. “Licensing, including environmental (review), often takes longer than rocket development. This should never happen. And it’s only getting worse.”
Environmentalists, meanwhile, put a different kind of pressure on regulators. In May, a group of environmental organizations sued the FAA over SpaceX's activities, saying the agency failed to comply with federal environmental laws or consider the local fallout from the company's explosive testing activities.
(SpaceX and the FAA denied those claims.)
The FAA nonetheless issued a license on Wednesday for the second test flight, saying SpaceX had "met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements.”
SpaceX Starship explodes after launch during a flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 20. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
SpaceX first attempted to launch Starship and its Super Heavy booster in April.
But the test flight didn't get far.
Immediately it became clear not all of the Super Heavy's engines were firing, and the rocket lifted off in an almost horizontal direction.
Then, as it began to soar out over the Gulf of Mexico, the rocket began tumbling tail-over-head — and SpaceX was forced to hit the self-destruct button, exploding the rocket so it wouldn't pose any danger.
The sheer force of the rocket upon liftoff also left the launchpad in tatters, forcing SpaceX to rebuild the pad in a way that it hopes will better withstand the fiery blow of Super Heavy's 33 engines.
Despite the mishap, SpaceX sought to frame the mission as a crucial learning experience. The company has long been known to embrace explosive mistakes during rocket development — aiming to learn more quickly than if it just relied on ground tests.
Starship is still in a pretty early stage of the rocket development process. And it's not clear whether the vehicle will hit all its marks today — or even make it farther than the April test launch.
For his part, CEO Elon Musk likened the odds of success to a coin flip.
If all does go according to plan, it will look like this: Super Heavy will light up its engines and soar out over the Gulf of Mexico.
The booster will burn through its fuel in just a couple minutes before falling away from the Starship spacecraft.
Super Heavy will then be discarded into the ocean, though SpaceX will attempt to reignite its engines on the way down to practice how the vehicle could one day land back on dry ground so it can be be reused on future missions.
SpaceX
Starship, meanwhile, will light up its own six engines and propel itself to faster and faster speeds, with the goal of entering Earth's orbit. From there, the mission is to complete nearly one full loop around the world and splash down off the coast of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.
If all goes as planned, the mission should last about one and a half hours from beginning to end.
