Starship’s third flight was initially expected for February, but it will instead take place during the first half of March. After two failures, this third attempt will be more crucial than ever for the rest of the program.
Starship will fly again, that’s a certainty. What is no longer entirely clear, however, is the date of his next flight. For weeks there had been talk of another attempt for the month of February. A schedule that turns out to be more and more compromised, as the days advance without a clear sign of a future takeoff at Starbase, SpaceX’s test site.
A calendar shift of a few weeks
An unmistakable clue. The Starship rocket was disassembled last weekend, as reported it Jessica Kirsh on X (ex-Twitter) on February 18. The two segments of the launcher (the Super Heavy main stage, which provides main propulsion, and the Starship upper stage) have been replaced in the Texan hangars of the American company.
The two parts of the Starship had been moved earlier in February for testing. “ Starship team prepares for full launch rehearsal before Flight 3 “, still indicated SpaceX in a stage point on February 13. Since then, no more news, apart from a video published the same day, showing the assembly in time lapse.
The shift from a launch to March, although it has not yet been fully confirmed, is increasingly certain. In its February 22 edition, Ars Technica recalled the words of Elon Musk, the founder of the company. In response to a comment on X, he estimated in mid-February that it would probably take another three weeks of preparations.
This agenda has been described as “ about right » by an official from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), cited by our colleagues. The person was speaking during a press conference this week. The United States Civil Aviation Administration has control over what SpaceX can and cannot do in American airspace.
In all likelihood, it is therefore in early or mid-March that Starship flight number three should take place, as soon as the FAA gives the green light. The whole question is to know how far the ship will manage to go. The previous two flights ended badly, although the second shot went further than the first.
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