Starship’s fifth test flight approved: where to watch the launch

SpaceX plans to launch Starship for the fifth time tomorrow, October 13, during a 30-minute launch window that opens at 8AM ET. That’s after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today that the company “has met all safety, environmental and other requirements for a suborbital test flight license,” it reported. Reuters.

The company will live stream the launch, starting about 35 minutes before takeoff. You can find that on the SpaceX website or on its X account, and on the X TV app.

SpaceX’s mission for the future flight is to return the Super Heavy booster to its launch pad, which has never been done before. It will shoot another successful Starship in the Indian Ocean, which debuted on its fourth flight test in June.

FAA approval wasn’t expected until November, but the agency and its partners “conducted the analysis sooner than expected,” as CNBC reported yesterday. In addition to the planned launch tomorrow, Reuters it writes that the FAA “has reapproved the mission profile of Starship 6.”