SpaceX has received the green light from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct a fifth test flight of its Starship vehicle

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Federal regulators have granted SpaceX its long-awaited license to proceed with the fifth uncrewed test launch of Starship, the most powerful rocket system ever built.

The US Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, announced on Saturday that SpaceX “met all safety, environmental and other licensing requirements for the suborbital test flight.”

The Super Heavy rocket, topped with the Starship spacecraft, is scheduled to lift off from the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, during a 30-minute launch window beginning at 8 a.m. ET on Sunday, according to SpaceX’s website.

The demonstration mission is on track to include an ambitious attempt to maneuver Starship’s 232-foot (71-meter) rocket booster back into a massive landing structure after it burns off most of its fuel and separates from the upper spacecraft. If successful, the Super Heavy will be caught in the air using massive metal pincers that SpaceX refers to as “chopsticks.”

Meanwhile, the Starship spacecraft will continue to fly alone, using its six onboard engines, before performing a landing maneuver over the Indian Ocean about an hour after launch.

The goal of each milestone is to see how SpaceX can one day recover and quickly relaunch its Super Heavy boosters and Starship spacecraft for future missions. Reusing rocket parts quickly is essential to SpaceX’s goal of dramatically reducing the time and cost of transporting cargo — or ships of people — into Earth orbit and deep space.

Eventually, SpaceX plans to use the Starship capsule as a lander that will take NASA astronauts to the surface of the Moon as soon as 2026 as part of the Artemis III mission, and eventually put the first humans on Mars.

The FAA’s approval of the mission comes at a time when SpaceX — especially its combative CEO Elon Musk — and the federal agency have been publicly sparring.

The FAA was expected to issue a license for this test launch weeks ago. At SpaceX He said The Starship vehicle has been ready for launch “since the first week of August.”

But the agency delayed the authorization because SpaceX submitted the application without “disclosing that they violated Texas and federal law on certain matters,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said during a September 24 meeting. appearance Before Congress.

The 30-day delay occurred when SpaceX failed to give the FAA “an updated report on the sonic boom,” Whitaker said. A sonic boom is the loud sounds a missile can make when it starts moving faster than the speed of sound.

Whitaker said the other delay was due to SpaceX’s “failure to comply with Texas law,” an apparent reference to accusations that SpaceX did not have the proper permits to operate the Texas water deluge system used to manipulate the hit from the Super Heavy rocket’s booster. As it raises.

In a letter shared publicly, SpaceX denied Whittaker’s claims The delay was related to public safety.

Additionally, his assertion that SpaceX violated state law is simply false. SpaceX did not violate state law — it received a permit for deluge operations from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the company said in a statement issued on September 24. (The committee did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.)

SpaceX has too He publicly denied the reports That the company violated sanitation regulations with its deluge system, which SpaceX says uses potable water.

In September Blog postSpaceX also said that “the discharge water was sampled after each use of the system and consistently showed traces of any contaminants. Specifically, all levels remained below standards for all state permits that would allow the discharge.”

In a statement about the deluge system, the FAA said Friday that it considers SpaceX to be in compliance with the Clean Water Act.

The decision came after the FAA received confirmation from Texas regulators and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency in August and September, respectively, that SpaceX agreed to “obtain a pollutant discharge disposal system permit in Texas, pay civil fines, and comply with various operations.” Monitoring and reporting.” requirements,” according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The EPA referred questions to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment.

SpaceX is also facing a lawsuit from environmentalists over the issue, which the company has filed Named “Unjustified and trivial.”

SpaceX recently indicated in late September that it expects to receive approval for Starship’s latest test flight in November. This time frame was unexpectedly raised in early October.

It is unclear what prompted the change.

Musk has repeatedly used X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter which he bought two years ago for $44 billion, to attack the FAA.

On September 17th mailHe threatened to sue the agency for “regulatory overreach.” Musk — who has taken an increasingly outspoken stance on politics, expressing his distaste for the Biden administration and his support for former President Donald Trump — also posted on September 25 He believes Whittaker “should resign.” Musk also claimed that the agency’s activities were “Politically motivated.”

Musk’s comments came after The FAA suggested $633,009 in civil fines against SpaceX for violating launch licensing requirements twice during flights of its Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceX has denied any wrongdoing related to these requirements, saying none of the allegations are related to public safety. In a letter dated Sept. 18, the company said it had also provided advance notice to the FAA about changes to its launch operations, and that the agency had failed to act in a timely manner.

During his appearance before the US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in September, Whitaker said he supports SpaceX’s goals, but hopes to hold the company accountable.

“I agree that this is a vital mission,” Whitaker told Rep. Kevin Kelly, a California Republican, about SpaceX’s Starship development. “I think SpaceX has been a very innovative company — but I also think they’re a mature company. … And I think they need to operate at the highest level of safety.

SpaceX has previously run afoul of the FAA in testing the spacecraft. It is worth noting that in 2020, the company launched a test flight of a prototype of a rocket called Starship SN8, without obtaining prior approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to obtain a public safety waiver. At the time, the FAA said it refused to waive, although it was not planning to take further enforcement action against SpaceX.

Musk’s tone on the FAA has routinely changed. Sometime in 2023, for example, he said he did not blame the FAA for obstructing the spacecraft launch.

“In fairness to the FAA, it’s rare for them to cause a significant launch delay.” Musk said at that time. “The responsibility mostly lies with us.”