spacex won't launch the orbital maiden flight of starship in august according to a radio spectrum
license application the company filed with the us federal communications commission fcc worry not
though as the mars bound spacecraft could finally make its orbital test flight on september 1st
that's because spacex set out a six-month window that opens on the first day of september
the license was granted by the fcc on wednesday august 10th fcc space licenses
which reported the news on twitter urged people not to get carried away thinking starship is
certain to launch on september 1st reminder this is not the same as a launch license
it is a specific radio license for the test vehicles and does not indicate a change in status
fcc space licenses which is not run by the fcc wrote in a tweet on wednesday the reason
fcc space licenses is urging people to temper expectations is that spacex still hasn't received
a launch license for the starship orbital test flight launch licenses are granted by the u s
federal aviation administration faa which recently published its much delayed environmental review of
starship in that review the faa set out a number of conditions that spacex must meet before launch
it's also worth noting that ceo elon musk and company president gwen shotwell have stated on
separate occasions that starship could launch in june july and august meaning it's best to take any
rough launch announcements with a pinch of salt that's not to say we're not nearing launch though
starship is set to launch from spacex's starbase facility in south texas the company is preparing
for liftoff and it recently conducted a static fire engine test with both its first stage
super heavy booster called booster 7 and its starship prototype dubbed ship 24 while the
company is making steady progress towards launch there's still a way to go before both are ready
for liftoff both starship and super heavy are designed to be fully reusable and they are powered
by spacex's next generation raptor engines the improved efficiency of raptor to alongside the
full reusability of the launch elements is set to greatly reduce launch and operational costs
which is one of the main factors that will allow starship to eventually take humans to mars
nasa which may launch its own space launch system sls around the moon this month it's
targeting an august 29th launch date has opted to use starship for its upcoming artemis three
moon landing mission sls isn't reusable and it will be used for artemis 1 and 2 each of which
will travel around the moon before returning to earth with preparations well underway we're
on the verge of two historic launches that will likely usher in a bold new era for space flight
the european space agency esa has begun preliminary technical discussions with
elon musk spacex that could lead to the temporary use of its launchers after the
ukraine conflict blocked western access to russia's soyuz rockets the private american
competitor to europe's arianespace has emerged as a key could be india he added in an interview
spacex i would say is the more operational of those and certainly one of the backup
launches we are looking at ashbacher said talks remained at an exploratory phase
we of course need to make sure that they are suitable it's not like jumping on a bus he said
for example the interface between satellite and launcher must be suitable
and the payload must not be compromised by unfamiliar types of launch vibration
we are looking into this technical compatibility but we have not asked for a commercial offer yet
we just want to make sure that it would be an option in order to make a decision on asking for
a firm commercial offer ashbacher said spacex's falcon 9 has already swept up other customers
severing ties with moscow's increasingly isolated space sector amid the ukraine conflict but a
high-profile european mission could be seen as a significant win for the us rocket maker
ashbacher stressed any backup solution would be temporary however adding he
was not worried about the future of ariane 6. satellite internet firm 1 web a competitor to
spacex's starlink satellite internet venture booked at least one falcon 9 launch in march
it has also booked an indian launch on monday northrop grumman booked three falcon 9 missions
to ferry nasa cargo to the international space station while it designs a new version of its
antares rocket whose russian-made engines were withdrawn by moscow in response to sanctions
europe has until now depended on the italian vega for small payloads russia's soyuz for medium ones
and the ariane 5 for heavy missions its next generation vega c staged a debut last month and
the new ariane 6 designed in two versions to replace both the ariane 5 he said the
order of magnitude is certainly a good handful of launches that we would need interim solutions for
ashbacher said the ukraine conflict had demonstrated europe's decade-long cooperation
strategy with russia and gas supplies and other areas including space was no longer working
this was a wake-up call that we have been too dependent on russia and this wake-up call
we have to hope that decision-makers realize it as much as i do that we have to really strengthen our
european capability and independence however he played down the prospect of russia carrying out
a pledge to withdraw from the international space station iss russia's newly appointed space chief
yuri borisov said in a televised meeting with president vladimir putin last month that russia
would withdraw from the iss after 2024 but borisov later clarified that russia's plans had not
changed and western officials said russia's space agency had not communicated any new pull-out plans
the reality is that operationally the work on the space station is proceeding
i would say almost nominally ashbacher told reuters we do depend on each other
like it or not but we have little choice and that wraps up today's episode we would
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