SpaceX Starship Rocket is Clear for Second Test Flight – FAA

The Federal Aviation Administration has finally given the green signal for Elon Musk's SpaceX to launch its second Starship liftoff, almost seven months after its first attempt into space.

The air traffic agency confirmed that SpaceX "met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements."

Following the mishap in the first test last April, the FAA formally started its review on Oct. 19 and said investigations can take up to 135 days.

The agency earlier assured that it did not "expect to take the full amount of time."

The second flight test is scheduled on Friday, Nov. 17, at the SpaceX Starbase facility in South Texas. The event is set to start at 8 A.M. EST.

SpaceX Frustrations with the FAA Approval

Ahead of its final assessments, several SpaceX senior members have expressed frustration with the agency's long assessment.

SpaceX Vice President of Build and Flight Reliability Bill Gerstenmaier commented how FAA's commercial space office "needs at least twice the resources that they have today" to approve launches.

Gerstenmaier said SpaceX has a contract with NASA that needs to be fulfilled in time and the goal is to "land American astronauts on the moon before China does."

The FAA said it is "working diligently" to keep pace with its assessments and approvals.

SpaceX Starship Test Flight Mishap

SpaceX's space test flight this month comes in after the first attempt ended with the rocket exploding midair.

The rocket burst into flames minutes after liftoff after the Starship failed to light all of its engines after launch.

Several agencies expressed concerns over the environmental impacts of the explosion. Musk, however, explained that several test flights will be needed before Starship achieves success.

The Starship rocket is part of the SpaceX - NASA deal to carry astronauts to the moon during its Artemis III mission.

SpaceX is also contracted for another two lunar missions with NASA.