Historic Starship flight to take place on 17 April - FAA grants SpaceX permission to launch spacecraft

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has cleared SpaceX to launch Starship with a Super Heavy rocket. As expected, the launch will take place on April 17, 2023.

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American billionaire Elon Musk has postponed a rocket launch several times since late 2022. At the beginning of April 2023 the FAA published recommendations with three possible dates (10, 11 and 12 April), but the launch did not take place on any of these days.

The reason was the lack of a licence. A few days ago, the regulator set a new date of April 17. After a comprehensive evaluation, the Authority decided to allow the test flight. According to the FAA, SpaceX meets environmental, safety, financial responsibility and airspace integration requirements. The licence is valid for five years.

A 150-minute launch window will open at 3 p.m. (EET) on April 17. Starship will launch from the Starbase spaceport in Texas. Eight minutes after launch, Booster 7 will return to Earth and land in the Gulf of Mexico. Ship 24 will complete an incomplete orbit around our planet and land in the Pacific Ocean.

Starship is one of the key elements of the Artemis lunar programme. In 2025, Starship will land astronauts on the moon for the first time since 1972, when the Apollo programme ended.

Source: SpaceX