FAA: No Starship/Superheavy launch before late November
In response to speculation that the fifth Starship/Superheavy test launch could happen in mid-October — based on a recent notice to mariners from the Coast Guard, the FAA on Wednesday made it clear that its stonewalling of SpaceX will continue.
“We are not issuing launch authorization for a launch to occur in the next two weeks — it’s not happening,” an FAA spokesman said Wednesday afternoon. “Late November is still our target date.”
The report comes from the San-Antonio Express-News, and as is typical of the reporting in the propaganda press, the article only gives the FAA’s side of this story, making absolutely no mention of SpaceX’s detailed and very public objections. As far as this news outlet is concerned, the FAA is god, whatever it says must be true. So much for a skeptical free press whose goal is supposed to be to hold government accountable.
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In response to speculation that the fifth Starship/Superheavy test launch could happen in mid-October — based on a recent notice to mariners from the Coast Guard, the FAA on Wednesday made it clear that its stonewalling of SpaceX will continue.
“We are not issuing launch authorization for a launch to occur in the next two weeks — it’s not happening,” an FAA spokesman said Wednesday afternoon. “Late November is still our target date.”
The report comes from the San-Antonio Express-News, and as is typical of the reporting in the propaganda press, the article only gives the FAA’s side of this story, making absolutely no mention of SpaceX’s detailed and very public objections. As far as this news outlet is concerned, the FAA is god, whatever it says must be true. So much for a skeptical free press whose goal is supposed to be to hold government accountable.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuses to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
from the article:
“… SpaceX has an FAA license to launch Starship with the same configuration and flight profile it used during the fourth flight on June 6. That one saw the lower-stage Super Heavy booster land in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Boca Chica Beach and the upper-stage Starship splash down in the Indian Ocean. …”
“… The FAA confirmed Monday that SpaceX has not indicated it wants to fly the fifth mission under the old profile. However, if SpaceX changed its mind, it would have to notify the FAA at least 60 days before, according to federal regulations. …”
I do not see the purpose of SpaceX declining to fly another flight 4 profile flight. Starship is key and the engineers would benefit greatly from another reentry test. And a flawless booster landing in the Gulf would go a long way towards showing the public that the booster is ready for a tower catch.
Steve Richter: In July and August I agreed with you. However, SpaceX however did not, and no matter how many times you say you think they should repeat flight #4 on flight #5, you are not in a position to make that judgment, at all.
Note too that it appears to me that SpaceX decided to go with a chopstick landing on #5 sometime in late July, when Musk said publicly he was considering it. He knows best, and his track record proves that. I suspect at that time he was confident the FAA would approve this plan quickly, as a chopstick landing has always been part of the test program and had been previously reviewed during the environmental reassessment.
In this he was too naive. The FAA is not there to protect public safety, but to protect the power of the federal government and the Democratic Party it supports.
In other FAA news . . .
The FAA is restricting efforts to help Hurricane Helene victims.
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1842252268856324160/photo/1
“So much for a skeptical free press whose goal is supposed to be to hold government accountable.”
In fairness, the Fourth Estate has shown a willingness to be critical of Government: 1980 – 1992, 2000 – 2008, 2016 – 2020.