SpaceX Still Needs A FWS Review To Get Starship Launch License

Starship will soon have a license from the American Federal Aviation Agency (FAA). (photo: dock. spacex)

JAKARTA - After several months of waiting for theStarship license, SpaceX was finally relieved. The company almost has a license from the American Federal Aviation Agency (FAA).

Yesterday, the FAA stated that it had finished reviewing and evaluating the safety of Starship. This review was carried out to determine the impact of launch operations on public safety.

SpaceX failed to launch Starship on April 8 September 2023. To ensure Starship was completely safe to launch, the FAA issued 63 repair measures.

Of the 63 actions, 27 of them are related to public safety. The FAA must ensure that Elon Musk's commercial company has fulfilled all requested actions.

"One thing we need to look at before the next operation is evidence showing that the company has halted corrective measures specifically related to public safety," said FAA Association Administrator Kelvin Coleman, quoted by Space.

Although the FAA has finished reviewing at the end of October, SpaceX still has to wait for a review from the American Fisheries and Wildlife Service (FWS). This further review is needed to determine the environmental impact of installing the flood system on the launch pad.

FWS had said that it would take 135 days or nearly 5 months. However, there is a possibility that the results of the review will be completed sooner than they expected.

In fact, SpaceX has begun to be frustrated with the slow release of licenses. In a Senate Trade Commission hearing a few weeks ago, SpaceX complained about the uncertainty problem from the review of other institutions, namely FWS.

Starship is ready to launch, even Elon Musk admitted it last September. The only obstacle they are facing is the issue of a license.

If the license for Starship is issued longer than it should be, the mission of the United States Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) will be affected. This is not good news.

The reason is, Starship will be used in the main Artemis mission, namely Artemis III. This mission will deliver and land NASA astronauts on the Moon for the second time.