The American federal authorities, represented by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), gave the green light of SpaceX to conduct a new launch experience for the Starship vehicle, which is the most powerful launch vehicle that has been built so far, after two previous explosions this year caused a wreck near the Caribbean and Atlantic islands.
Licensing and permits details
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that it allowed Spacex to move forward in the upcoming launch attempt, known as the ninth test (Flight 9), although the investigation of the reason for the last flight failed, which exploded near the Baham Islands, is still ongoing.
The decision came after making sure that the company fulfilled “all the requirements of safety, environment and strict licenses.” The launch license was granted on May 15, which is an important step for SpaceX, as it allows the increase in the number of annual launchs on its site in Boca Chika, Texas, from 5 to 25.
Expanding risk areas and warnings for flights
In response to the previous explosions in the previous two flights (the two flights 7 and 8), the Aviation Administration decided to expand the scope of danger areas around the launch site from 885 nautical miles to 1600 nautical miles to cover the potential path of the vehicle’s wreckage.
This expansion affects about 175 flights, and is expected to lead to moderate delays of 40 minutes per flight. To reduce the disorders, the launch window has been scheduled outside the peak periods of air traffic.
Use of Super Haifi enhancement
SPAXX plans for the first time the Super Hevi Reinophile experience, which is the largest part of the StarsHip launch system with a length of 71 meters, and includes 33 engines that provide initial payment to take off.
The company had previously succeeded in restoring three Super Haifi reinforcements safely, with the aim of renewing and re -use to reduce costs.
The risks of debris and the treatment of international authorities
After the previous explosions, pieces of debris fell on the Torx, Kaikos and the Baham Islands, some of them caused slight material damage, such as hitting a car in southern Kaikos.
The Federal Aviation Administration continues to coordinate with UK governments, Torx and Kaikos Islands, Baraa, Mexico, and Cuba to ensure Spacex’s commitment to all safety requirements.
The importance of Starship in the space future
The Starship vehicle is a very important task for NASA, which has pledged to pay up to $ 4 billion for Spacex to transport astronauts to the moon’s surface on two planned tasks during the current decade.
Starship is expected to become the main alternative to NASA’s SLS, especially with the White House recommendation to stop SLS after three trips due to its high cost.
The unique engineering approach for Spacex
Spacex follows the “Rapid Repetitive Development” approach to Starship design, as it launches cheap preliminary models with the aim of discovering and correcting problems quickly, unlike NASA’s approach that depends on extensive ground tests before launch.
This approach makes the company tolerate the risks and repeated explosions, while confirming that every failed experiment accelerates the improvement of the vehicle’s design more effectively.
a summary
Despite the previous explosions and criticism facing the company, Spacex continues to test Starship to achieve its ambitious goal of reaching Mars and transporting people to deep space, while continuing cooperation with NASA and US defense projects.
