Faced with months of waiting for approval for the next Starship launch, SpaceX has gone on the offensive regarding the red tape surrounding the process and the ongoing environmental assessment.

According to SpaceX, the next Starship has been ready to go since August. The company has adopted a rapid iterative approach and added more objectives every flight. For the fifth flight, SpaceX hopes to be able to "catch" the Super Heavy Booster as it returns to the launchpad.

However, SpaceX has also been the subject of complaints over its environmental record. The company claims the slip in US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval from September to November is down to what it called "bad faith hysterics" rather than genuine safety concerns.

It claimed the delay was not based on a new safety concern "but instead driven by superfluous environmental analysis."

SpaceX highlighted four open issues: concerns around alleged pollutants from the water-cooled steel flame deflector it erected after the damage to the launch pad following the first Starship launch, worries about the splashdown location of the Super Heavy Booster's hot-stage, impact to wildlife - such as birds - by the company's operations, and the sonic booms that will be a consequence of the Super Heavy Booster returning to the launch site.

SpaceX insists the issues are arising from anything as simple as misunderstandings through to complaints from "a small, but vocal, minority of detractors trying to game the regulatory system to obstruct and delay the development of Starship."

"We continue to be stuck in a reality where it takes longer to do the government paperwork to license a rocket launch than it does to design and build the actual hardware," it said. "This should never happen and directly threatens America's position as the leader in space."

SpaceX's post came during a US Space & Aeronautics Subcommittee hearing, in which contributors complained about the license approval process.

The FAA must follow the rules, which can work in SpaceX's favor, such as the company being permitted to resume Falcon 9 launches after mishaps, but they can also work against Elon Musk's rocketeers.

We're sure Musk won't hold any of this against the FAA should he find himself appointed head of a "government efficiency" task force by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

One side effect of the ongoing delays in Starship launches is a knock-on delay in NASA's hoped-for Moon landing, which requires a Starship to take humans down to the lunar surface. At the time of writing, the launch of Artemis III, which will land a crew on the Moon, is set for launch "no earlier than September 2026." This seems overly optimistic.

Blaming paperwork will ensure that the reality distortion field surrounding NASA's Artemis program and SpaceX's Starship promises can be preserved a little longer.

The Register asked the FAA to comment. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/09/11/spacex_starship_red_tape/