FAA approves SpaceX to test launch 394-foot Starship

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted SpaceX a launch license to conduct the first test flight of its Starship rocket. The rocket, which is 394 feet long and powered by over 30 methane-fueled engines, could launch as early as Monday from a remote site near Boca Chica Beach in southern Texas. The FAA said that SpaceX had met all safety and environmental requirements during the years-long approval process. The test flight will last around an hour and a half and will not carry any people or satellites. SpaceX will attempt to send the spacecraft around the world, discarding the “Super Heavy” first stage in the Gulf of Mexico and sending the spacecraft into the Pacific. No landings will be attempted during the inaugural trip, and nothing will be saved from the test flight. Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, aims to use the Starship rocket to send people to the moon and Mars. NASA has already signed up for a Starship to put astronauts on the moon as early as 2025. Musk estimates that there is an 80% chance of one of the fleet of Starships attaining orbit by the end of the year.