The US gave the green light SpaceX will carry out the second launch of its powerful super rocket Starshipthe world’s largest spacecraft, which the company plans to launch this Friday from Texas.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorized the launch this Wednesday, given that “SpaceX has met all safety requirementsenvironment, politics and fiscal responsibility.”

The permit was pending after the first test carried out earlier. six months ended with an explosion shortly after the flight.

As with the first test flight, Starship will take off from SpaceX’s facilities in Boca Chica, in far southern Texas, and will be powered by the launch vehicle’s first stage. Super heavy duty with 33 Raptor engines.

Release scheduled for this Friday

SpaceX announced this evening on X (formerly Twitter), upon learning of the approval, that it plans launch at 7:00 local timewith a two-hour window.

If all goes well, the spacecraft, which along with its launch vehicle is 121 meters tall (equivalent to more than 35 floors), is expected to reach orbit and circle the planet almost completely to complete its journey in the Pacific Ocean, near Hawaiian Islands.

For this second test, the firm made some improvements, including one related to the separation process, whereby the second stage, the Starship itself, would fire its engines during the same separation process, rather than after it, to gain more power.

Changes were also made to the Starbase launch site in Texas to mitigate the impact of the first stage engines, one of the aspects the FAA reviewed after the first test conducted on the morning of April 20.

The leak led to the explosion of the starship 4 minutes after takeoff

That day, a leak in some of the first stage engines caused a fire, which triggered the self-destruct system, causing The spaceship will explode just over 4 minutes after takeoffwhen he was almost 40 kilometers above the Gulf of Mexico.

The launch platform sustained significant damage and parts of it were scattered across nearby wetlands; no injuries were reported, but it led to a lawsuit by an environmental group and the state Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and The FAA will investigate the incident. launch.

The rocket was ready and stationed at the Boca Chica launch pad for several days while awaiting appropriate approvals from both the FAA and FWS, the latter responsible for environmental issues.