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SpaceX Starship Flight 9 Update · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:00
  SpaceX just cleared a big hurdle toward launching at Starship
• 0:03
  rocket again, and it could happen as soon as 10 days from
• 0:07
  now. The FAA announced late on May
• 0:10
  15th that it has updated Spacex's Starship launch
• 0:13
  license. This new version includes an
• 0:15
  environmental approval granted earlier this month, which now
• 0:18
  allows SpaceX to conduct the 25 launches per year from Starbase
• 0:23
  in South Texas. That's a 5 fold increase from
• 0:26
  the previous cap of just five launches per year.
• 0:30
  This is a major step for SpaceX as it ramps up its testing
• 0:33
  program. And it's not a green light for
• 0:35
  Flight 9. Not yet.
• 0:37
  The FAA made it clear that SpaceX still can't launch Flight
• 0:41
  9 until the agency officially closes its investigation into
• 0:44
  Flight 8 or determines that the company can safely return to
• 0:48
  flight. SpaceX submitted its final
• 0:50
  report on that failure on May 14th, and the FAA is still
• 0:55
  reviewing it. Flight 8 took off in March and
• 0:58
  ran into serious trouble during its ascent.
• 1:00
  A energetic event hit the upper stage and caused several Raptor
• 1:04
  engines to shut down. That led to a loss of control,
• 1:07
  and the rocket reentered over the Caribbean.
• 1:10
  A similar issue happened with Flight 7 in January, and before
• 1:13
  Flight 8 even launched, SpaceX admitted they were dealing with
• 1:17
  a phenomenon called a harmonic response.
• 1:20
  This is essentially intense vibrations during flight that
• 1:23
  were stronger than what they've seen in testing and what they've
• 1:26
  expected. These vibrations strain the
• 1:28
  propulsion system, led to fuel leaks, and caused fires on
• 1:32
  board. Back on March 31st, the FAA
• 1:35
  accepted Spacex's findings for the earlier flight, but the
• 1:38
  agency said they wouldn't allow another launch until Flight 8's
• 1:41
  investigation was fully closed or another path forward was
• 1:46
  defined. That's where we are now, with
• 1:48
  the FAA reviewing the Flight 8 report and SpaceX on standby
• 1:52
  ready to move. Meanwhile, SpaceX is already
• 1:55
  preparing for Flight 9. On May 13th, they performed a
• 1:58
  long duration static fire test of the Starship upper stage, one
• 2:01
  of the final steps before launch, and the company said at
• 2:04
  that time they were in final preparations for liftoff.
• 2:08
  Maritime and airspace notices hint at a possible launch window
• 2:11
  opening around May 22nd, but that still depends on FAA
• 2:15
  approval. And it's going to be more
• 2:17
  towards the 27th. Now Elon Musk said he plans a
• 2:21
  talk at Starbase and it's going to be about the Mars strategy
• 2:25
  just before flight 9 that the event will be streamed online.
• 2:29
  But there's growing concern outside the US after debris from
• 2:33
  flight 7 and 8 re entered over the Caribbean.
• 2:36
  Some officials in the region pushed for changes to the
• 2:39
  Rockets path. Now, the British Prime Minister,
• 2:42
  Stephen Doughty, reached out to the US State Department to
• 2:46
  request a shift in the launch trajectory to reduce risk to
• 2:49
  territories like the Turks and Caicos.
• 2:51
  The FAA responded by publishing an updated environmental
• 2:54
  assessment for the upcoming launch.
• 2:56
  That document outlines a larger hazard zone, called the Aircraft
• 3:00
  Hazard Area, that now stretches as far as the Bahamas and Turks
• 3:03
  and Caicos. Now, the agency cited the past
• 3:07
  two Starship mishaps as the reason for the expanded danger
• 3:10
  zone, saying the risk of failure remains higher than normal.
• 3:13
  And because of that, more than 175 commercial flights are
• 3:16
  expected to be impacted by the temporary airspace closures
• 3:19
  during launch. The average delay is estimated
• 3:23
  at around 40 minutes per flight, and the launch is currently
• 3:26
  scheduled for 7:30 PM Eastern, which helps avoid peak travel
• 3:30
  periods. Still, the airports and Turks
• 3:34
  and Caicos will have to shut down during the launch window to
• 3:38
  stay clear of the hazard zone. Now, the FAA license update is
• 3:41
  important because it moves SpaceX closer to restarting
• 3:44
  Starship flights, and this is the rocket system that will
• 3:47
  eventually send humans to Mars. But first it has to prove it can
• 3:52
  launch, fly and return without failing.