FAA gives Flight 7 the Go Ahead, SpaceX to complete final steps ahead of launch

on

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved SpaceX’s Flight 7 of Starship. The news came shortly after Ship 33 completed engine testing at Masseys and rolled back into Mega Bay 2. SpaceX must now put the final touches on its vehicles before teams are ready.

Flight 7 Regulatory Side

On Dec. 17, the FAA released a statement for the approval of Flight 7 and a minor license modification. This comes a bit earlier than expected and just before the holidays.

The first part of the statement allows SpaceX to use the Flight 7 mission profile multiple times. This refers to using a Block 2 Ship and Block 1 Booster on a suborbital trajectory. While the trajectory is the same as in the past six flights, the vehicle combination has changed due to Block 2 of Ship. This could mean that SpaceX still intends to fly suborbital missions for a few more flights or at least has the option to do so without another license modification.

The FAA also discusses how the agency continues to increase its licensing duties efficiency to try to meet the demands of the commercial space industry. Considering the rapid turnarounds of the past few license modifications and the timely return to flights for Falcon 9 throughout the year, the FAA is undoubtedly making progress.

The license’s basic verbiage regarding the vehicle configuration for the flight is: “Using the Starship-Super Heavy vehicle.” This has been the same since Flight 5 and has only been changed once which was for Flight 4 where it stated, “Using Ship 29-Booster 11Starship-Super Heavy vehicle Configuration, unless this license is modified to remove this term”. This definition might cover SpaceX at least through the end of Block 1 of Booster.

Regarding Block 2 of the Ship, it was thought that due to the extended tanks and many other changes, a significant modification might have been required for Block 2 of the ship. However, it appears that the FAA has deemed the current definition of the vehicle to cover the changes in design.

Revisions to Starship Launch License (Credit: Federal Aviation Administration)

The only changes to the license were the addition of Paragraph 12, which is “Highly Reliable Flight Safety System Tailoring,” which then states: “SpaceX must receive FAA signature on RCC-324-11 tailoring change request, TR24-001-STARSHIP, prior to initiation of Flight 7.” RCC-324-11 is for Global Positioning and Inertial Measurements Range Safety Tracking System Commonality Standard. This means that before Flight 7, SpaceX must update its document for Range Safety and Tracking.

This standard is used by many ranges across the United States, such as the White Sands Missle Test Range and the 30th and 45th Space Wings, which are located at Vandenburg Space Force Base and Cap Canaveral Space Force Station, respectively. This is for standardizing range operations for Starship in Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX operates Starship under Part 450 of Title 14 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Under Part 401.7 are the definitions of what constitutes a Mishap during any given launch under Part 450.

Mishap Definitions (Credit: Federal Aviation Regulations)

So far in the program, the FAA has allowed SpaceX to have specific failure modes that would not trigger a mishap investigation, as things are still experimental and are a work in progress. To date these were failure of the thermal shield during high heating, failure of the flap system during high dynamic pressure, and failure of the Raptor engine system during the Starship landing burn.

For Flight 7 and beyond, the FAA has added two new failure mode exceptions: first is the failure of the Raptor engine system during in-space demonstration burn, and second is the failure of Super Heavy systems during post-booster catch vehicle safing. These additions allow SpaceX to try different things with in space burns and with post-catch safing and not have to have a mishap investigation if there were to be a failure. However, an investigation will be required if any of these failure modes cause a safety issue or injury.

Booster 12 on the OLM after being Safed (Credit: BocaChicaGal for NSF)

Flight 7 Vehicles and Pad

With the regulatory part out of the way, SpaceX must now focus on vehicle readiness. To that end, Ship 33 completed a couple of engine tests at Masseys. The first was a spin prime on Dec. 12. The reason for doing a spin prime is that Ship 33 has upgraded engine plumbing from Block 1 ships, and SpaceX needs to verify it before proceeding to a static fire test. On Dec 14, Ship 33 did tank up as if it were to possibly static fire but either aborted or SpaceX was performing another type of test.

On Dec. 15 and 16, SpaceX performed two static fires of Ship 33; the first test was a full six-engine static fire, and the second was a single-engine static fire testing the deorbit burn with some engine gimbaling added. Ship 33 is the first Ship to a deorbit burn test fire since Ship 29 on the old Suborbtial Pad B. 

Once these tests were completed, Ship 33 was then rolled back to Mega Bay 2 for final flight preparations. So far, SpaceX has not stripped the side tiles off Ship 33 like Ship 35, which is already being built with this modification in mind; however, that should only take a week or two to complete.

Booster 14 has been back in Mega Bay 1 for over a week since completing its engine testing and is not expected to require much work other than installing its Hot Stage Ring, then rolled out and stacked in Mega Bay 1. Rollout to the launch site for flight could possibly be just after the holidays. 

Regarding the launch pad, SpaceX should have completed most of the refurbishment work, but the legs still need to be repainted, among other things. The new tanks that have been added over the past few weeks will likely not be anywhere near ready for Flight 7 as SpaceX still has to route the cryogenic pipes and hook them into the Orbital Tank Farm.

Pad A being Refurbished For Flight 7 (Credit: BocaChicaGal for NSF)

Once rolled out and stacked, SpaceX will likely perform at least a tanking test, if not a full Wet Dress Rehearsal, considering the changes on Ship 33, with it being the first Block 2 ship to hook into the Orbital Tank Farm.

If everything lines up, SpaceX could hit a launch target around Jan. 11, the latter cited as the target date for NASA to be in Perth, Australia, for a Starship flight. This is a plane that NASA uses for imagining purposes, which also means SpaceX might go for another late-day flight so pictures can be taken in sunlight at the landing zone.

Featured Image: Ship 33 Six Engine Static Fire (Credit: BocaChicaGal for NSF)

The post FAA gives Flight 7 the Go Ahead, SpaceX to complete final steps ahead of launch appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.



Comments

Post a Comment