SpaceX preparing repeat test launch of Starship

SpaceX is hoping to re-launch Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, next week, the company said, after an attempt in April ended in a spectacular explosion, Report informs referring to Phys.org.

"Starship preparing to launch as early as November 17, pending final regulatory approval," SpaceX said on X.

SpaceX foresees Starship as a next-generation, fully reusable spaceship that will eventually carry both crew and cargo to Mars.

The project is being followed closely by NASA, which has contracted a version of Starship to function as a lunar lander for its Artemis program to return astronauts to the Moon by the middle of this decade.

On April 20, SpaceX blew up the uncrewed rocket four minutes after it blasted off from the company's Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. Starship experienced multiple engine failures, and its first-stage booster did not separate from the spacecraft above it.

The rocket disintegrated into a ball of fire and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, sending a dust cloud over a town several miles (kilometers) away.

The Federal Aviation Administration needs to issue a launch license for a second test to be attempted. The regulator completed its safety review of Starship in October, but the project still needs a sign-off from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for the license to be given.

A new Starship currently stands ready at the launchpad, according to publicity material posted by SpaceX.