SpaceX Targets Third Starship Launch In February

Starship launch preparations (photo: twitter @SpaceX)

JAKARTA SpaceX will fly the Starship for the third time in February. This launch is part of the testing phase to see the success of the Starship engine.

From theSpacenews report, SpaceX's Deputy President of Customer and Integration Operations, Jessica Jensen, said that the Starship hardware was almost ready. Once the hardware is up for use, Starship is ready to launch.

SpaceX plans to launch Starship in the near future, but the company still has to wait for permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The reason is, the FAA has not renewed its Starship aircraft launch license.

The FAA will renew the license after SpaceX completes all the improvements requested by the agency. These improvements relate to the launch of the second Starship which failed and ended in an explosion.

Currently, SpaceX is still making improvements to Starship. Jensen did not specify what improvements had been taken and when it was completed, but he believes that the license will be issued in the near future.

"We are on the right track for that. We expect the permit to come in February. So, it looks like Flight 3 will take place in February," Jensen said.

On November 18 last year, SpaceX launched Starship from Starbase launch near Boca Chica, Texas. Initially, the Super Heavy booster worked well, but soon exploded after the top-stage separation.

From the results of SpaceX and FAA reviews, this explosion occurred as the top stage triggered a flight-stopping system. Therefore, his last burning period failed and Starship exploded in just minutes after launch.