FCC Licenses Elon Musk's SpaceX, But Starship's License Awaits FAA Approval

JAKARTA - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licensed Elon Musk's SpaceX on Thursday to conduct an experimental orbital demonstration and recovery test of his Starship rocket in Q1 2022.

The FCC app shows an orbital launch could take place any time between December 20, 2021 and March 1, 2022, from SpaceX's testing facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

However, the Elon Musk-led company still needs to wait for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to complete its environmental assessment before Starship can leave the ground.

The FAA announced last November that it would complete the review by December 31, meaning SpaceX has all the regulatory approvals needed to send its massive rocket into space.

The news, however, may not come as a surprise to Musk who has constantly said a launch might be in January 2022.

Last month, the billionaire said Starship's first flight into orbit would arrive in the first three months of 2022 and on November 17 he narrowed it down to January 2022.

Starships to ️ Mars ️

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 4, 2021

Speaking during an online meeting hosted by the US government's National Academies, Musk said the Starship's first orbital launch - which he called a 'very immersive vehicle' making progress "very quickly" - "hopefully 'happens' in January' or possibly February. ' 2022 and could be followed by 12 or more launches throughout the rest of next year.

"We are close to our initial orbital launch," he said, as quoted by Dailymail.co.uk. "Our first expected orbital flight will be in January."

"There are a lot of risks associated with this first launch," said Elon Musk. "So I'm not going to say that it might work, but I think we're going to make a lot of progress."

Last Thursday's news now puts SpaceX one step closer to achieving Musk's January goal.

The FCC application states, 'trajectory data (from orbital flights) will be provided directly to NTIA, USAF and NASA.' But right now, SpaceX still needs the go-ahead from the FAA.

The assessment includes the environmental impact profile of SpaceX's initial mission and review of debris recovery, local road closures in Boca Chica, Texas, as well as the company's launch site, and other issues.

The Starship program aims to develop vehicles for interplanetary and human cargo travel to the moon, Mars and beyond.

To perfect the rocket, SpaceX plans to conduct several test launches over the next few years, all of which will require a vehicle operator license or permit from the FAA.

While Musk appears to appreciate the FAA's timeline, the billionaire hasn't always been happy with the agency.

In January, he lashed out at the FAA on Twitter for its rules regarding space launches causing delays in the launch of SpaceX's Starship Serial Number 9 (SN9) rocket.

"Unlike its aircraft division, which is fine, the FAA's aerospace division has a fundamentally broken regulatory structure," Elon Musk tweeted, in January 2021.

“Their rules are meant for multiple expendable launches per year from multiple government facilities. Under those rules, humanity would never get to Mars," he tweeted.

The FAA remained silent on the tweet. While Musk has expressed his frustration online, the division told DailyMail.com in January: "We will continue to work with SpaceX to resolve outstanding safety issues before we agree to the next test flight."

Although not stated by the FAA, the delay may have been due to SpaceX's earlier test flight of the Starship SN8 which traveled about seven miles into the air and then exploded on the launch pad in what Elon Musk called an "extraordinary test."

A month later, the FAA announced it would oversee the investigation of the SN9 emergency landing on February 2. SpaceX eventually launched SN9 for its first altitude test, but the massive rocket was unable to maneuver into a vertical position before landing on the launch pad and detonating on landing.

Musk returned to war with the FAA in July, when the agency warned SpaceX that its environmental review of the new tower at its Boca Chica launch site in Texas was incomplete and the agency could order SpaceX to take the tower down.

With the latest FAA review, the agency will have to determine whether the 'insignificant find' can be issued or it needs to conduct a more intense review - an environmental impact statement that will take the Starship even longer to fly.