SpaceX is reportedly planning to launch Starship on its seventh test flight next January. The mission is targeted for January 11, 2025 and NASA will be involved next time for data collection.
According to The Launch Pad, the documents filed by NASA to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shows that the agency wants to use its Gulfstream V aircraft to observe Starship’s upper stage when it re-enters the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
STARSHIP FT7 UPDATE! #SpaceX #Starship #Flight7
According to new documents filed by NASA to the FAA; SpaceX is targeting NET January 11th, 2025 for Starship Flight 7; and NASA5, a Gulfstream V will be used to observe the reentry of Ship 33 when it enters over the Indian Ocean,… pic.twitter.com/AajauuRtSd
— The Launch Pad (@TLPN_Official) November 25, 2024
NASA has reportedly requested the FAA to expedite the process of licensing Starship launches to accommodate multiple flights over the Gulf of Mexico and Southwest Texas as soon as December 7. The Starbase site in Texas is where SpaceX launches Starship from.
NASA wrote in its request, “These flights are necessary to calibrate the onboard sensors used to image the peak heating of SpaceX’s Starship 7 during re-entry.”
With data and flight learnings as our primary payload, Starship’s sixth flight test once again delivered → https://t.co/oIFc3u9laE pic.twitter.com/O6ZKThQRr6
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 20, 2024
ALSO SEE: Elon Musk ‘Highly Confident’ About Sending Starships To Mars By 2026
Further explaining its use of the Gulfstream jet, NASA said that it will be used to image the re-entry and peak-heating events of Starship’s upper stage before its splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The jet will be deployed in Perth, Australia ahead of the launch.
“The data collected is essential in understanding space vehicle performance, formulating design improvement, and ultimately making future reusable space vehicles safer for humanities ongoing quest to explore the cosmos and advance scientific discovery,” the agency said.
Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting sixth flight test of Starship! pic.twitter.com/bf98Va9qmL
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 19, 2024
The sixth test flight of Starship took place on November 20 and ended in success except SpaceX couldn’t catch the rocket’s Super Heavy Booster using the Mechazilla tower due to a technical issue.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will be aiming for a higher number of launches in 2025, reportedly as many as 25 Starship missions. These launches will involve catching not only the Booster but also the upper stage of the Ship. Musk has said that SpaceX will attempt one more splashdown of the upper stage and catch it thereafter.
ALSO SEE: What Starship Launch Looked Like From Space, NASA Astronaut’s Pic Reveals
(Image: SpaceX)
