SpaceX received approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday to launch its Starship SN9 prototype spacecraft (pictured right) in South Texas, which was postponed due to a regulator investigating a possible violation of the launch license.
The permission was notified early in the morning. Few residents in Boca Chica were also advised to evacuate their homes on Tuesday morning. The prototype launch will take place shortly.
The company's plan is that the SN9 prototype will climb to an altitude of about 10 km, and then perform a belly approach maneuver, simulating a fuel leak during its return through the Earth's atmosphere. As it approaches the surface of the Earth, the prototype spacecraft will reorient itself and land near the launch pad. It was this last part - performing the final landing maneuver - that failed in December for the previous SN8 prototype, ending in its crash.
As already reported, at the launch site in South Texas near the village of Boca Chica, next to Starship SN9, there is a prototype Starship SN10. Like SN9, it is designed to test the capabilities of a spacecraft in suborbital flight. The launch date for Starship SN10 is still unknown.
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