SpaceX has announced that the Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft are fully ready for their fifth flight. It will take place after receiving permission from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The previous Starship test took place in June and was very successful for SpaceX. The company finally managed to bring the Super Heavy booster to the ground. As for Starship, although the spacecraft received some damage, it still managed to survive reentry and made a successful splashdown.
The next key task SpaceX needs to solve is the return of the Super Heavy. A Mechazilla tower equipped with huge mechanical arms will be used for this purpose. According to the engineers’ idea, it will pick up the booster returning to the spaceport. This will make it possible to ensure its reuse.
In preparation, SpaceX conducted a series of firing tests of the Super Heavy and Starship that would be involved in the upcoming mission. According to the company’s statement, they are fully prepared for the flight. It will take place after FAA permission is received. Most likely, it will be issued in the next few days. For now, the company plans to conduct additional tests of the Mechazilla arms, as well as the Starship instance that will be involved in the sixth flight.
It is worth noting that SpaceX has not yet published a detailed plan for the fifth flight. So we don’t know what other tests it will include and what trajectory Starship is planned to launch on.
