First Orbital Test Flight of SpaceX's Starship Will Not Happen This Month as Company Targets a 6-Month Window

SpaceX's Starship spacecraft will not be having its first orbital test flight this month as the company eyes a six-month window starting this September 1 and has not yet received the necessary launch clearance.

The company has filed a radio-spectrum license application with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the orbital test. According to FCC Space Licenses, which keeps tabs on such things, the license was granted on Wednesday. However, FCC warns that this approval is not the last hurdle that Starship must overcome to conduct its orbital test.

When Will Starship's First Orbital Test Flight Be

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted on August 2 that a successful orbital flight of the Starship spacecraft could become possible between one to 12 months from now. This is because they have yet to receive the necessary launch clearance.

FCC Space Licenses wrote in their tweet that the license recently granted to SpaceX is not the same as the launch license. Rather, it is a specific radio license for the test vehicles and does not changes the status.

That means SpaceX has not yet received a launch license for its Starship spacecraft's orbital test flight that will lift off from the Starbase facility in South Texas. Launch licenses are a necessary requirement from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) which just recently finished a lengthy environmental assessment for the company's site.

Science Times previously reported that SpaceX got the approval from FAA to continue developing its Starship rocket project in Starbase. The federal agency found that the company's Starship project has "No Significant Impact" in the area, but noted that the company must perform over 75 actions to mitigate its environmental effects.

(Photo : JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
SpaceX's first orbital Starship SN20 is stacked atop its massive Super Heavy Booster 4 at the company's Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on February 10, 2022.

ALSO READ: SpaceX Gets Approval From FAA to Continue Its Rocket Projects in Texas, But There's a Catch

Starship Long Engine Test

Space.com reported that the company just recently conducted a static fire engine test on its Booster 7 and Ship 24 at Starbase after a failed attempt last month. Booster 7 is just one of the 33 engines Starship rocket has, and Ship 24 just fired up six of its Raptor engines.

It is part of the company's launch vehicle system tests in preparation for the rocket's first-ever orbital flight test. Starship is a reusable vehicle that consists of the huge Super HEavy booster and an upper stage.

The engine tests off Booster 7 and Ship 24 were conducted on Tuesday, wherein the engineers briefly lit up the Raptor engines as it remains anchored to the ground.

Full duration 20 second static fire of Super Heavy Booster 7 pic.twitter.com/5bSVKY1HUA
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 11, 2022

Then on Thursday, SpaceX conducted a longer static fire test on Booster 7 on the orbital launch mount of Starbase that started at 3:48 pm EDT (19:48 GMT). According to a tweet from SpaceX, the full duration of the static fire test lasted about 20 seconds to which Musk added that the long-duration burn is aimed to test the engine's autogenous pressurization.

Ship 24's two Raptor engines on Tuesday. SpaceX is set to fire up more and more of the engines of Starship simultaneously as the testing campaign proceeds.