Starship Flight 14 still awaits FAA approval as manifest points to Florida debut

SpaceX’s Starship Flight 14 is still waiting for launch approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), but the mission could still lift off as early as Monday, 28 September.

The company used the regulatory pause to run an extra rehearsal of the launch stack at Starbase, Texas. Ship 41 — already loaded with 26 Starlink V3 satellites — was destacked from Booster 21 on Friday but remained at the launch site. The extra pad time also put the launch mount back into use more than two months after the last flight.

The current launch window opens at 7:15 a.m. local time, which could produce a sunrise launch, and approval could still arrive over the weekend.

Meanwhile, air-traffic briefing slides posted through the CADENA system have sketched SpaceX’s near-term manifest. Flight 15 is listed no earlier than 19 October and is understood to be the next Starbase mission after Flight 14 — potentially restoring booster catching, possibly of both vehicles. A second mission, Starlink Group 30-1, is listed no earlier than 30 October from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy — expected to be the first Starship launch from Florida.

SpaceX tested the LC-39A launch mount’s top-deck water deluge system for the first time on Thursday night, a sign the pad is getting closer, though it still lacks a licence to fly Starship from Florida.

All the October dates should be treated cautiously — they may well slip. Flight 14 first has to do what Version 3 has not yet managed: get through the count, reach orbit, and bring a working ship home through reentry.