SpaceX's Starship Rocket Could Fly Again in the Coming Weeks

SpaceX is preparing to launch its Starship rocket for the second time, aiming for mid-November for another flight test of its launch vehicle after the first one didn’t go so well.

WatchAstronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their View CCShare SubtitlesOffEnglishSpaceflight Now that Starship’s launch could take place as early as November 13.AdvertisementElon Musk’s private space venture has been eager to see Starship take to the skies once again. SpaceX has previously claimed that its rocket has been ready for its second test flight for over a month. The company, however, can’t fly Starship without the green light from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).AdvertisementLast week, the FAA completed its safety review of Starship but the administration is still waiting on the conclusion of an AdvertisementAt the time, it was stated that the assessment would take anywhere from 30 to 135 days to complete. The USFWS says it likely won’t need the entire duration to perform the review, but assuming an earliest case scenario of 30 days, that still takes us to November 18. Consequently, a November 13 launch date doesn’t seem entirely realistic, with all due respect to Spaceflight Now’s unidentified sources. Starship embarked on its initial flight on April 20, but after entering into a catastrophic tumble about four minutes into the mission, ground controllers were forced to issue a self-destruct command. The rocket, troublingly, igniting of several wildfires, disruption to local wildlife, and the AdvertisementThe steel reinforcements beneath the launch mount and a “Starship’s first flight test provided numerous lessons learned that directly contributed to several upgrades to both the vehicle and ground infrastructure to improve the probability of success on future flights,” SpaceX wrote on its website. “The second flight test will debut a hot-stage separation system and a new electronic Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system for Super Heavy Raptor engines, in addition to reinforcements to the pad foundation and a water-cooled steel flame deflector, among many other enhancements.”AdvertisementThere is a lot riding on Starship’s ability to ace its test flight this time around. SpaceX is under a Want to know more about Elon Musk’s space venture? Check out our full coverage of X and bookmark Gizmodo’s dedicated

Based on reporting by gizmodo.com.