SpaceX Starship's third test flight will be before Christmas: Demonstration of "aerial refueling"

The third test flight of the Starship will be conducted this month, and NASA also revealed that this test flight will include a key technology demonstration, that is, how the spacecraft transports cryogenic propellant in the air. How important is this? The engine of the starship spacecraft engine is mainly driven by cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid methane. Most of the fuel carried during launch will be used to propel the starship into Earth orbit.

This means that if the starship is going to deliver goods to other planets, SpaceX needs to launch a "starship tanker" to transport fuel into orbit and transfer propellant into the starship (very heavy). This process is similar to the common aerial refueling of fighter jets.

According to the latest reports, SpaceX has received a communications license from the FCC for its third starship launch test. The license issuance date is November 28 and is valid from December 1 to January 6 next year.

According to current market expectations, the third Starship test flight will be carried out before Christmas this year at the earliest and completed within the first quarter of next year at the latest.