Three long months passed since SpaceX launched its giant prototype of the Starship spacecraft, which was lifted by a launch vehicle Super Heavy. But the flight ended prematurely with an impressive explosion high in the sky.
At the same time, the launch of all 33 Raptor engines turned out to be so powerful that it destroyed the Starbase launch pad in South Texas, scattering huge pieces of steel and concrete, covering the coastal region with a layer of debris, and even disfiguring the car.
Shortly after the launch attempt, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that it was suspending rocket launches until SpaceX improved environmental measures and could ensure that future failures would not affect public safety. Therefore, most likely, we will have to wait some more time before we can see the flight of Starship again.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, the FAA is still waiting for a report detailing the steps SpaceX must take before it can carry out the next launch of Starship and Super Heavy. In other words, it is unknown when SpaceX’s next attempt to launch a rocket into orbit will take place.
An FAA spokesman told the newspaper that public safety and environmental implementations that SpaceX had yet to implement would determine the time frame. And this is despite the fact that a month ago, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk promised that the next flight would take place within the next six to eight weeks after the static fire test.
Meanwhile, SpaceX is making changes on its launch pad, hoping that the April damage will not happen again. For example, the company reinforced the site with a huge water-cooled steel plate.
But despite SpaceX’s best efforts, there is no guarantee that the next test flight will take place at all.
Earlier we reported on how the Booster 9 Starship Super Heavy was installed on the launch pad.
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