SpaceX says when Starship is expected to take to the skies again

SpaceX recently hit a milestone with its third orbital launch of Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket.

On March 14, Starship took to the skies in its third orbital launch attempt, and while the mission ended in a fiery explosion, it was deemed a success by SpaceX as Starship officially reached orbit, checking off a major milestone for the company in its quest to create a viable transportation method to the Moon, Mars and beyond. As with every flight of Starship, and every rocket for that matter, engineers gather the data from the flight, analyze it, and make the appropriate changes to the design of the rocket to improve the chances of success for the next flight.

Upon re-entry, SpaceX was forced to execute a RUD protocol, or "rapid unscheduled disassembly," or boom. RUD was executed due both stages of the rocket, the Super Heavy booster, and Ship, breaking a part during their descent back through Earth's atmosphere. Now, SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell has revealed at the Satellite 2024 conference in Washington on Tuesday March 19 that SpaceX is aiming to get Starship back into the skies for its fourth test flight in "about six weeks".

Not only does SpaceX have to analyze the data from the third orbital test flight and implement the necessary changes to Starship's new design, but it also has to secure a launch license from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is currently conducting an investigation into the March 14 flight - a regulatory standard that occurs after every Starship flight.

"I don't think we're going to deploy satellites on the next flight," she said at the conference. "Things are still in trade, but I think we're really going to focus on getting reentry right and making sure we can land these things where we want to land them, successfully."

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