IT Home reported on January 11 that SpaceX's Starship conducted two test flights in 2023, but both ended in failure, and now the company says that the third test flight could take place as early as next month.
At NASA's ** conference on Tuesday local time, Jessica Jensen, SpaceX's vice president of customer operations and integration, said the company is already trying to get approval for Starship's third flight, which is expected in February.
From a hardware readiness standpoint, our goal is to be ready in January, and then from a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) clearance standpoint, we're going to get a third flight permit. ”
He also added that SpaceX is currently in the process of completing the rectification requirements made after Starship's second flight test, and the company expects FAA approval for the third flight test to arrive in February.
Referring to a previous report by IT House, during the last test of SpaceX, Starship was successfully lifted off with the power of all 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster and passed the interstage thermal separation.
However, it was also officially admitted that the booster experienced a rapid unplanned decomposition shortly after the stage separation (the live stream showed the separation**), and the Starship's engine continued to burn for several minutes on the way to space.