NASA is “really looking forward” to the spacecraft’s next test flight

Updated at 9pm ET with Gerstenmaier’s comments.

WASHINGTON — As SpaceX prepares for the test flight of its Starship vehicle, NASA is watching closely as it waits for the company to achieve the next milestones in development of the lunar rover version.

SpaceX announced late October 7 that it is preparing to launch the Starship vehicle on its fifth integrated test flight on October 13, pending regulatory approval. The mission will be similar to the fourth mission in June, with the spacecraft’s upper stage flying on a suborbital trajectory aimed at landing in the Indian Ocean.

But the main difference is that the Super Heavy rocket will attempt to return to the Starbase launch site in Boca Chica, Texas. This would allow the launch tower to “pick up” the booster with a pair of mechanical arms and place it on the launch pad. This is a key element of SpaceX’s long-term plans to enable rapid reuse of the vehicle.

“Thousands of distinct vehicle and pad parameters must be met before attempting to return and capture the Super Heavy support vehicle, which will require intact systems on the booster and turret and a manual command from the mission flight director,” the company stated. If these conditions are not met, the rocket will land in the Gulf of Mexico instead.

Speaking at the October 9 meeting of the National Academies of Biological and Physical Sciences Committee on Space, Bill Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s vice president for construction and flight reliability, expressed optimism that the booster could return for pickup by the launch tower. “We landed in the ocean with half a centimeter accuracy” on the previous flight, he said, “so we think we have a reasonable chance of getting back into the tower.”

The timing of the launch has surprised many, as the FAA had previously informed SpaceX and publicly announced that it would not be ready to issue a launch authorization until late November, citing changes in the mission profile from previous flights. This sparked criticism from the company and its CEO, Elon Musk, as well as industry groups and its supporters in Congress.

An FAA official said in September that the timeline for licensing the spacecraft was driven by an environmental review, a process that requires coordination with other agencies. The FAA noted that SpaceX only provided information in mid-August about how changes to the flight profile resulted in environmental impacts that “cover a larger area than previously reviewed.”

“In mid-August, SpaceX provided new information regarding its proposed Starship/Super Heavy Flight 5 mission,” the FAA said in an Oct. 8 statement. “The FAA continues to review this information. The FAA will make a licensing decision once SpaceX has met all licensing requirements. Contrary to previous FAA statements, the latest statement did not give a timeline for late November, or any other date, for making a licensing decision.” .

Industry sources indicate that the interagency review process went faster than expected, which could allow the licensing process to be completed by the end of the week. However, there is no guarantee that it will be ready in time to support the launch attempt on October 13.

Speaking at the October 9 meeting of the National Academies’ Aeronautics and Space Engineering Council, Lori Glaze, acting deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Directorate, said the agency is “really looking forward” to the spacecraft’s flight, adding that it might happen. “Early next week,” based on comments from SpaceX.

NASA’s interest in Starship is tied to its use as a lunar lander for the agency’s Human Landing System (HLS) program, and the lander is scheduled to be used on the Artemis 3 mission. “There is no doubt that the HLS is the critical path for Artemis 3,” she said.

The next “really big” milestone for Starship HLS development is an in-orbit propellant transfer demonstration, where SpaceX will create a fuel depot in Earth orbit that will be supplied by multiple Starship launches before the depot fuels the Starship lander for its journey to the Moon. “We have to be able to demonstrate that they can do it effectively and that they understand any nuances associated with that,” she said.

Related to this is the rate at which SpaceX can launch “tanker” Starships to fill the warehouse. “The speed component is the rate at which SpaceX can launch the systems that can refuel the depot,” she said. NASA has seen “good progress” toward that rate due to its construction of a second launch tower at Starbase and the ability to launch “hopefully” from Florida, she said.

Glaze also pointed to efforts by SpaceX to recover and reuse the Super Heavy booster, which the company will test at the next launch. She said the company originally planned to test the Super Heavy booster landing on its sixth test flight but moved it to the fifth flight. “That’s part of the challenge of trying to get to flight test No. 5.”

Committee members raised concerns about the “huge” number of launches that would be required to fill the depot, with one member estimating 35, a much higher number than NASA or SpaceX officials have publicly stated. Glaze did not provide the number of Starship launches required for the HLS mission. SpaceX expects to “do approximately 16 fuel transfers” for the moon mission, Gerstenmaier said.

“We’ve all been watching SpaceX. They operate a little differently than traditional industry,” she said. “We’re all watching the progress as they continue to develop.”

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