SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell says the company is “shooting for July” for
the first orbital launch of the company’s Starship vehicle despite lacking
the regulatory approvals needed for such a launch.
Speaking at the National Space Society’s International Space Development
Conference (ISDC) June 25, Shotwell said the company was pressing ahead with
plans for an orbital flight involving the Super Heavy booster and Starship
upper stage from the company’s Boca Chica, Texas, test site.
“We are headed for our first orbital attempt in the not-too-distant future.
We’re shooting for July,” she said. “I am hoping we make it, but we all know
this is difficult. We are really on the cusp of flying that system, or at
least attempting the first orbital flight of that system, in the very near
term.”
SpaceX last flew a Starship prototype May 5, with the SN15 vehicle flying to
an altitude of 10 kilometers before making a successful landing, a milestone
that had eluded four previous prototypes in tests between December 2020 and
March 2021. While SpaceX originally appeared to be planning a second
suborbital flight of that vehicle, it instead moved the vehicle from the
launch pad. Another Starship prototype, SN16, has remained at the production
site.
SpaceX has since turned its attention to preparing for the first orbital
test flight. In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission May 13,
SpaceX outlined the flight plan for the mission, starting with liftoff off
from Boca Chica. The Super Heavy booster would land in the Gulf of Mexico
off the coast from Boca Chica, while Starship would go into orbit but
reenter after less than one orbit, splashing down 100 kilometers northwest
of the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
That license application stated the flight would take place during a
six-month period beginning June 20. However, the Federal Aviation
Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation has not yet
issued a launch license for Starship/Super Heavy launches from Boca Chica.
The company’s existing license covers only suborbital flights of Starship.
As a part of the licensing process, the FAA is performing an environmental
review of launches from Boca Chica. The agency said in November that the
original environmental impact statement for the site, prepared in 2014 when
SpaceX was contemplating launching Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, was
not applicable to the far larger Starship/Super Heavy vehicles. Some
environmental groups had criticized allowing SpaceX to launch Starship
vehicles from Boca Chica using the original environmental study.
That assessment must be completed before the FAA can issue a license to
SpaceX for Starship/Super Heavy flights. The assessment could conclude that
such launches would have no significant impact, or that some mitigation
measures are needed to allow such launches. It could also conclude that a
more detailed environmental impact statement would be required, delaying a
decision on the license.
The FAA has not provided an update on the status of the environmental
assessment, which would include publication of a draft version for public
comment before a final version. It is unlikely that process could be done in
time to support a launch in the near future.
Shotwell made no mention of the licensing and environmental review process
in her brief comments at ISDC, where she was accepting an award from the
organization. Later in her remarks, she said the orbital launch attempt was
the next big test for Starship. “I never want to predict dates because we’ll
still in development, but very soon,” she said.
Shotwell said she was also “very excited” about the progress on the Starlink
program. She said SpaceX will have full global coverage once all the
satellites launched to date reach their operational orbits. SpaceX launched
the most recent batch of Starlink satellites May 26.
“Roughly six or so weeks from now we will have full global continuous
coverage with the Starlink constellation, which should really help people
who are un- or under-served to get broadband internet,” she said.