SpaceX Has Completed All The FAA Requirements
Two days ago the FAA closed the Starship mishap investigation and cited 63 corrective actions the company needed to take before the next Starship launch could be approved. At that point, that was all the information we had received and while many thought that SpaceX had already completed most of these actions, it turns out the company is already done.
Specifically, earlier today Elon provided the exact list of every action and congratulated the SpaceX team on completing these different tasks. Some of the required corrective actions included leak prevention and mitigation to adding 90 plus cameras all around the launch vehicle. The fact that this list is complete is big news and suggests the launch could be just weeks away.
At this point, all SpaceX needs is a launch license, and with the corrective actions complete, the FAA should be ready to do so. Here I will go more in-depth into this list of corrective actions, the final launch prep, what the flight profile will look like, and more.
57/63 Actions Complete
As per usual, a lot of big developments are happening within just days of each other as SpaceX pushes toward the second flight test. Two days ago when the FAA released its statement, they made it clear that there were 63 corrective actions and SpaceX would not receive a launch license until each of them was complete. When the FAA tweeted about these actions Musk replied “What are the 63 items?”. This worried people but was definitely a joke as earlier today he tweeted “Congrats to SpaceX for completing & documenting the 57 items required by the FAA for Flight 2 of Starship! Worth noting that 6 of the 63 items refer to later flights.”
This included two images of the 63 items and their status. This should mean that SpaceX is ready based on the comment that 6 of the items are for later flights. On the documents, these items are labeled future action which suggests that they don’t need to be completed before the approval of the second flight test. It’s also possible that some of these future action items can just be implemented on an already-built rocket and will be applied to future prototypes. If that is the case then the FAA would likely be fine with all the other actions being addressed.
Taking an even closer look at the list, there are about 10 major fixes which each include multiple corrective actions. Some of the biggest include booster leak mitigation, Raptor leak mitigation, booster reliability improvement, safety system, and pad design/process. For the most part this all matches up with what SpaceX has said and been working on for the past couple of months. In a recent statement from SpaceX, they highlighted the work they had done to prevent booster leaks and improvements to the Autonomous Flight Safety System.
Some of the corrective actions listed were especially interesting such as “90+ cameras added to detect leakage during operations.” On the first flight, during ascent, the vehicle sustained fires from leaking propellant in the aft end of the Super Heavy booster, which eventually severed connection with the vehicle’s primary flight computer. This led to a loss of communications to the majority of booster engines and, ultimately, control of the vehicle. With this in mind, both the FAA and SpaceX have been focusing on avoiding any leaks with the second launch. These cameras should ensure that if one does happen, SpaceX will know exactly where and at what point during the mission.
Assuming the 57 completed items are enough, it begs the question of what does SpaceX still need to do before the launch. Currently, the biggest obstacle is obtaining the launch license from the FAA. Specifically, SpaceX must implement all corrective actions that impact public safety and apply for and receive a license modification from the FAA that addresses all safety, environmental and other applicable regulatory requirements prior to the next Starship launch. Based on this statement from the FAA SpaceX is either applying for the license right now, or already did days or weeks ago. To put it in perspective, the original launch license took around 1 month to receive after SpaceX applied. These timelines are also very hard to predict on the other hand because of all the external factors and lack of information.
The most likely scenario is that this process has already begun and a license could be granted in just weeks. This would support a launch toward the end of this month.
Starship Flight Profile
A few days ago Musk confirmed that Starship is ready to launch, awaiting FAA license approval. This being said the Starship test article still needs to complete a few checks and a wet dress rehearsal. However, this should be easily completed before the license approval. With the first launch taking place on April 20th earlier this year, the progress in that time period is extremely impressive. Considering the damage to Stage 0, some of the problems with the launch vehicle, regulatory hurdles, etc., SpaceX managed to get ready for another attempt in just over 4 months.
As for the launch itself, the flight profile is very interesting and should provide some exciting mission events. While not 100% confirmed, the flight profile is expected be the same or at least very similar to the first.
On the day of launch, main operations will begin two hours before liftoff with the SpaceX Flight Director conducting a poll and verifying go for propellant load. Just 21 minutes later, Booster LOX (liquid oxygen) will begin loading into the first stage. At the same time, the Booster Fuel load (liquid methane) will also start flowing to the booster. 1 hour and 22 minutes prior to launch and SpaceX will begin loading liquid methane into the upper stage. 5 minutes later and this process will begin with the liquid oxygen. This process will continue over the next hour approximately until the rocket is full of propellant.
Next, with just 16 minutes and 40 seconds left on the clock, the Raptor begins engine chill down on the booster. Over the next 15 minutes, SpaceX continues to thoroughly monitor everything going on and make sure the rocket is ready. With just 40 seconds left before liftoff, the fluid interfaces begin their ventdown sequence. At T – 8 seconds, all of the Super Heavy booster Raptor engine startup sequences begin. Finally, as the clock hits 0, Starship lifts off and soon clears the tower. At this point in time, anything could happen, however, SpaceX has a best case scenario plan.
Assuming Starship clears the tower, it will continue to accelerate and gain altitude. Just 55 seconds after liftoff and the rocket will reach Max q, the moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket. For the next 2 minutes, Super Heavy will continue to fire its engines and accelerate Starship into position. Around 2 minutes and 49 seconds in and the upper stage will attempt the hot staging separation. Here, Starship’s second stage engines will ignite to push the ship away from the booster. Next, the booster boostback startup burn commences 3 minutes and 11 seconds after liftoff. For the next whole minute, this burn continues until T + 4 minutes and 6 seconds. For the next couple of minutes, the booster will fall back toward Earth picking up a significant amount of speed. At T + 7 minutes and 40 seconds, the booster landing burn startup occurs. This burn lasts for the next 31 seconds before its cutoff and the booster falls into the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico.
At T + 9 minutes and 20 seconds, Starship cuts off its engines. For the next hour and 8 minutes, the upper stage will be in its coast phase. This is until T + 1 hour and 17 minutes when Starship begins to enter the atmosphere. 11 minutes after the start of reentry and the vehicle is transonic. Finally, a full 1 and a half hours after liftoff, the Starship upper stage is expected to impact the water in the pacific ocean. This is the exact flight profile assuming everything goes perfectly. Obviously, a lot could go wrong on this second test flight. Either way, one thing is guaranteed, it’s going to be very entertaining.
While SpaceX has some ambitious reusability plans for Starship in the future, for the time being they are focusing on getting the rocket through some of the main mission events like stage separation. If things go well then future missions will see upper-stage landing attempts and booster catches. In preparation for this upcoming launch, SpaceX also made significant upgrades to the orbital launch mount and pad system in order to prevent a recurrence of the pad foundation failure observed during the first flight test. These upgrades include significant reinforcements to the pad foundation and the addition of a flame deflector, which SpaceX has successfully tested multiple times.
In a statement, SpaceX said, “Testing development flight hardware in a flight environment is what enables our teams to quickly learn and execute design changes and hardware upgrades to improve the probability of success in the future. We learned a tremendous amount about the vehicle and ground systems during Starship’s first flight test. Recursive improvement is essential as we work to build a fully reusable launch system capable of carrying satellites, payloads, crew, and cargo to a variety of orbits and Earth, lunar, or Martian landing sites” they said.
Conclusion
SpaceX has completed the necessary corrective FAA actions and now is in the process of getting a launch license. Based on the state of Starship and this process, a launch in just a few weeks toward the end of this month seems very likely. We will have to wait and see how it progresses and the impact it has on the space industry.