FAA grants Starship Flight 14 launch and reentry licence for first orbital attempt

The Federal Aviation Administration has granted SpaceX the launch and reentry licences needed for Starship Flight 14, clearing the way for the rocket’s first orbital attempt on Monday, 28 September.

The licence, No. VOL 23-129 Rev 9.0, is split into two orders under the FAA’s new Part 450 regulations: Order A-1 covers liftoff and suborbital flight, while Order A-2 gives Starship permission to reenter from orbit and splash down in the Pacific Ocean, covering zones north of Hawaii and off the coast of Chile. The authorisation applies to Flight 14 only, so SpaceX will need a further modification for Flight 15 and beyond.

It is the first time the FAA has granted an orbital licence for an object the size of a Starship upper stage, which stands 52 metres tall. “In addition to completing the environmental review, license applications must also meet FAA safety, policy/payload, and financial responsibility requirements to receive authorization for flight,” the FAA said in a statement.

Flight 14, using Booster 21 and Ship 41, is set to lift off from Starbase, Texas, at 7:15 am CDT (12:15 UTC) on Monday with a 75-minute launch window; backup days run from 29 September to 4 October. After 13 suborbital test flights, the primary objective is to reach orbit, deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites into a roughly 275 km orbit, then perform a deorbit burn and splash down in the South Pacific after an eight-hour coast phase. Each V3 satellite adds about 1 Tbps of capacity to the Starlink network, SpaceX says — roughly ten times a Falcon 9 launch of V2 minis.

SpaceX will not attempt to catch Booster 21 after issues with Boosters 19 and 20 on the past two flights; the booster is instead aimed at a Gulf landing.

Sources

• NASASpaceFlight: Starship Flight 14: SpaceX Attempts Orbit
• Spaceflight Now: SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster arrives at pad ahead of first orbital Starship launch