While SpaceX waits for the Forest and Wildlife Service (FWS) to approve its launch pad for the next Starship orbital flight, the company has submitted an application to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allow it to communicate with Starship during the test. The application sets a January start date for Starship testing activities.
While SpaceX was developing the world's largest rocket in Boca Chica, Texas, it kept a window open for operations, so such applications were commonplace. The second test will feature several upgrades compared to the April test, the biggest of which may be thermal stage separation, where the Starship's second stage will explode from the first stage during flight.
Judging from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filing, the filing was recently approved by the FCC and covers a 6-month period starting on January 27, 2024. However, compared with the application submitted earlier this year for the second "Starship" test flight, this application is limited. The earlier application, filed in May less than a month after Starship's orbital test flight, covered the first-stage booster, the launch pad, the entire Starship vehicle and the second stage.
However, the latest filing only seeks authorization from the FCC to communicate with Starship boosters and launch sites. Depending on whether SpaceX has submitted other applications, this could mean that the company is either looking to conduct non-orbital Starship tests or has submitted other applications to the FCC seeking permission for the entire vehicle and flight.
While we wait, an X user shared a homemade rendering of Starship's orbital flight, and it might be the best of its kind to date. Starship is not only the largest rocket in the world, but also the rocket with the largest number of rocket engines on its first-stage booster. This rocket is powered by 33 Raptor 2 engines. When they ignite and fly together, the sight is unmatched by other rockets currently operating or under development in the world.
Meanwhile, a second Starship test flight is expected to bring more fireworks. SpaceX will add a thermal staging ring to the top of the first-stage booster to mitigate a stage separation failure that was a major failure point on the April test flight. In the last test flight, although some of the rocket's engines failed, it successfully left the launch pad and ended up doing multiple somersaults in the air. The final task was taken over by the flight termination system and the rocket was destroyed as planned.
In addition to the thermal transfer intermediate stage, SpaceX also made key upgrades to the Starship’s engines and engine nacelles. SpaceX's Raptor engine is much more complex than the Merlin engine on Falcon 9 because it redirects all the gases back into the combustion chamber to improve performance and efficiency. These high-pressure gases also make the engine susceptible to leaks, which can be catastrophic to the 33 engine system. So as part of the upgrades following April's Starship test flights, SpaceX has improved the valves and seals on the Raptor engines and greatly improved the engine room's fire suppression system to deal with potential accidents.