Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, will give a “Starship presentation” at the company’s launch and assembly facility in South Texas on Thursday evening.
Since September 2019, the presentation will be Musk’s first thorough report on the vehicle’s progress toward launch—and plans for when it is operating. Since then, SpaceX has made significant progress on the Super Heavy rocket and Starship upper stage, but some key issues remain. The firm will almost definitely livestream the presentation, and Ars will be present.
The following are some of the most important things we’re looking for.
Is Starship ready to take to the skies?
Engineers and technicians at SpaceX’s Starbase in South Texas will mount a Starship vehicle on top of a Super Heavy rocket this week. “Ship 20” will be the name of the Starship. There haven’t been 19 Starship prototypes before, but there have been a lot of them. And “Booster 4” will be stacked aboard this ship. It’ll be a stunning backdrop, but will either of these vehicles take to the air?
The answer is most likely no. While Booster 4 will have 29 Raptor engines, they look to have been painted for the show, which isn’t something you’d do to a vehicle before a flight.
At the same time, construction on Ships 21, 22, and so on—and at least Boosters 7 and 8—is underway at a neighbouring production location in South Texas. So, what’s the strategy for all of this stuff and its preparation for a launch attempt into orbit?
Due to technical concerns with the Raptor engine, there have been reports that SpaceX may not even attempt an orbital launch this year. All of this data has been speculative and unproven. However, SpaceX has been testing the “Raptor 2” engine at its McGregor, Texas, facility with a sense of urgency. Musk, hopefully, will provide some light on the situation.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2022
Is Starship going to take off from Texas?
Aside from the rocket’s readiness, the Federal Aviation Administration’s evaluation of the South Texas site for orbital Starship missions has raised concerns.
The FAA released its first environmental study on South Texas in September, setting off a public comment period. The FAA stated at the time that a final review would be released by the end of 2021. The release was then postponed until the end of February. The FAA is now rumoured to be delaying the procedure beyond the end of February.
The FAA is expected to issue one of three decisions when the process is completed: a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), a Mitigated FONSI, or a Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement. The formal launch licencing process would be able to move forward with a “FONSI.” If a full Environmental Impact Statement is required, launches from South Texas will most likely be months, if not years, behind schedule as more paperwork is done.
SpaceX has restarted operations at a Starship worksite at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in recent months. Is it doing so in case the Starship programme needs to be relocated from South Texas to Florida? Again, Musk should give SpaceX’s perspective on launch site availability.
