SpaceX says third week of April current target for a Starship launch, pending regulatory approval.
After days of speculation and confusion ignited by an advisory released by the FAA, which stated that SpaceX would launch Starship on April 10th, SpaceX has cleared the air with a single tweet (it’s not as dramatic as that sounded tbh).
The company tweeted that it was going to perform a Wet Dress Rehearsal on the full stack (S24/B7) on Monday, April 10th. Assuming all goes well with that, a launch attempt would then follow roughly a week after, pending regulatory approval.
This is right in line with what SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed to be a rough estimate of the launch of Starship Super-Heavy back in March. Back then, he said SpaceX should be ready for a launch attempt towards the end of April, provided the FAA issues out the launch license timely.
So, what does all this mean? Well, it still is NOT a solid confirmation of a launch date. We only have a rough timeframe at the moment, and no date. But it gives much confidence that it comes from SpaceX itself. It has been quite a noisy week of speculation in the spaceflight, particularly the Starship community. Yes, that’s a thing.
Partly, I do not blame them. I mean, the advisory came from the FAA. And we’re all pumped right now and all want to see that thing fly. But I think we should all exercise caution when it comes to potential launch dates and so on. If it is not coming from SpaceX, Elon Musk himself or an objectively reliable source, you probably want to take that with a packet of salt. Even if SpaceX or Musk confirms anything, it should still be kept in mind that dates could still slip. These are the very early days of this program after all.
So after that SpaceX confirmation, eyes will be on the WDR next week on Monday. Its success will mean a highly likely launch sometime around late April if SpaceX get that launch license in time. The anticipation once again builds and builds.🚀
Do you think we will see Starship launch this month? Comment below!🚀
Thumbnail image: SpaceX via Twitter.
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