Hi friends, it’s your Space Coast correspondent James Sparvero and the last time I wrote to you I wondered if we could be within a month from the next flight test of the most powerful rocket to ever fly.
Well, days later, SpaceX said it was targeting mid-November and then just Friday night, SpaceX provided an ambitious update saying Starship (with all its modifications since the first launch that ended explosively) could fly again as soon as this Friday, “pending final regulatory approval.”
As we’ve talked about so much, everything hangs on Starship receiving the FAA’s launch license but if the launch could possibly happen Friday, that license could be issued at any moment.
The company has argued the nearly 400-foot launch vehicle has been ready for another test flight for months, so the urgency from SpaceX to launch as soon as possible feels there.
Adding to the importance, NASA needs Starship to succeed in order to land the Artemis III astronauts on the moon as soon as two years from now. A year before then, SpaceX must be successful landing an uncrewed Starship on the lunar surface as a dress rehearsal.
Stick with News 6 and ClickOrlando.com for all updates once we learn more about the next possible launch date. Maybe I speak for you too when I say, can’t wait!
📧 Have any topics you’d like to discuss? Send me an email here.
👋 Here’s a little bit more about me.
Little did I know when watching Apollo 13 in the third grade that 20 years later, I was destined for a thrilling career as your Space Coast multimedia journalist.
Chemistry and biology weren’t so interesting to me in high school science, but I loved my Earth and Space class (Thanks, Mr. Lang).
Then in 2016, I traded Capitol correspondent in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for space correspondent. I’m proud that my first live report at News 6 happened to be the first time SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 booster on a barge. What seems so routine now was a really big deal that day in our newsroom!
From there, I’ve covered the Commercial Crew program and the return of human spaceflight to Kennedy Space Center (Demo-2 launched on my 33rd birthday!)
Now, as our coverage looks forward to missions to the moon and Mars, I often tell others I have the best job in local news. Because after all I’ve seen so far, I think I would be bored working somewhere else. I even bought a house near the Cape with a great view to the north so I never miss a launch even when I’m not working.
After seven years on the beat, though, I still consider myself a young space reporter and I always look forward to learning something new with every assignment.
Have a great launch into the rest of your week!