Regulatory Hurdles Cleared: FAA Approves Starship Flight 7 🚀

[@TrebleSketch]

I don’t think people realise is that there’s a lot of footwork needed to be done before these licences can be granted as such a speed. They haven’t really been twiddling their thumbs over these past two years and it seems like we’re now seeing the labour of work from ensuring all the hard stuff is done so future licences can be approved faster!

[@jbell6642]

@@TrebleSketch Nice post. I sure hope you’re right.

[@warrenwhite9085]

Don’t be naive… the FAA doesn’t do anything to issue licenses, just sign a piece of paper. The FAA has responsibility only for insuring the Flight Termination System works to ensure public safety, nothing else. That was done years ago.

[@danlemke6407]

@@warrenwhite9085 Too many politics involved. I hope they can change that.

[@warrenwhite9085]

@@danlemke6407 This administration weaponized all agencies/powers to target, attack, punish, intimidate political enemies. The sole FAA authority is public safety… not assuring mission success… in any case the FAA is incompetent to judge hardware, software. The last 4 years was political malice flipping the finger at American’s hopes & dreams.

[@johndavid1611]

This. Im tired of people hating on the FAA for just doing their job.

[@ShauinHirokoshin]

top notch reporting by this guy

[@IngeDianaYvette]

At last! Congratulations SpaceX ❤🎉

[@U2EdgeFan]

This time it was fast. Who's suprised? I suspect that next year the FAA will approve everything without a long review. Times are changing.😂

[@NismoXero]

Agreed!

[@L8nitedave]

And probably not for "the better".

[@JustMe-dc6ks]

Cronyism and autocracy are like that.

[@L8nitedave]

@@JustMe-dc6ks exactly, everyone is Elon's fan boy without even realizing the stuff that is being f-ed up.

[@alquinn8576]

@@JustMe-dc6ks the democrats have demonstrated it is a choice between losing and lawfare or winning and cronyism; there is no middle ground

[@DavidToyzan]

Thank you for a very informative update. Top Notch.

[@officialwildcardadventures]

Nice work Ryan and team. 🙌 Lets go flight 7!

[@mikegardner107]

Thanks Ryan. Just the facts. Kept it short.

[@EvanPang-w4i]

That was fast!

[@gregmcmillan3439]

Don’t ever…ever…ever change the intro song Mr Chris B and gang please! Love…love…love it! Thanks, Greg

[@rangerbaynworkshop]

That last shot of starship just looked so ridiculously epic. She's a thing of beauty.

[@cube2fox]

It's a girl!

[@briandoe5746]

And the crazy thing is he doesn't have to kidnap sea otters this time

[@matthiasgrunwald895]

Thats gr8 news!

[@brianbankert1411]

Awesome!!!

[@cipedead0777]

Wow what grate look thank you NSF

[@TalismanPHX]

Nicely done Ryan

[@SamageetDutta]

Starship Update❌ Space Law Class✅ jk, keep rocking!

[@kingsnoopy01]

As SpaceX shows capability to do this regularly with minimal to no issues the govt agencies will work to make it easier for them. This is the phase we are at. Blue Origin is still at the beginning and so the FAA is gonna be more stringent. As they get more reliable, the agencies will also make it easier. It is a process folks.

[@babstra55]

no, it gets easier because the companies are slowly building up the practices that don't fall short of legal requirements anymore.

[@refurbansuburban]

Ryan--well done! Nicely Explained. Thank you.

[@AnupomAG]

December 25 would be incredible choice of launch date if they chose to change.

[@iamaduckquack]

I'm sure the workers would like their 1 day off.

[@AnupomAG]

@iamaduckquack Nah they'd love this more.

[@karna6634]

nah they have family​@@AnupomAG

[@Zacharysharkhazard]

@@AnupomAGyeah no I think these incredibly hard working talented people would deserve to spend Christmas with their families. I wouldn’t speak for them.

[@NismoXero]

Be some nice new years fireworks tho!

[@BenjySparky]

Ryan and NSF, y'all rock! Peace

[@marioluptak8476]

Excellent

[@tombambauer5220]

So what's the plan? Santa dodging a rocket ship in a week?

[@rRekko]

Doubt it, there are still some tests to be run and maintenance, so i don't think they're launching before first half of january.

[@GerardHammond]

So many regulations are needed to be ticked off for this starship project. Impressive work by SpaceX. Companies have a lot of red-tape to push through. Red-tape isn't always a bad thing, but its a thing

[@babstra55]

red tape keeps people alive at their workplace even when the billionaire owner publicly rejects their rights and fires people for daring to demand safe working environment.

[@jblob5764]

A mishap defines a mishap. Yup that checks out..

[@Vastafari34]

The FAA is being a little bit more realistic now that they know a lot of the people in their administration are on the chopping block.

[@DebraJean196]

Howdy all

[@SushiByTheSea]

Great explanation of RUDE rules.

[@Sarvolos1]

I feel like this is the beginning of the First Order!

[@DUKE_of_RAMBLE]

So if the Falcon 9 launch director stubs his toe on the doorframe going into mission control, that'll be classified as a Mishap and trigger A Mishap Investigation? 😅

[@alquinn8576]

Title 18, Part I, Chapter 65, Section 1365 (h)(3) defines what qualifies as a serious bodily injury to a toe or other digit, and rules that a simple contusion does not meet this threshold, while a break, including hairline fracture, does, as does an amputation (whole or in part) if either stitches or cauterization are required. there was a SCOTUS case a while ago on whether or not the loss of a toenail after bruising was "serious" bodily harm, with Alan Dershowitz arguing that a loss of a toe nail is akin to an amputation, since bodily integrity is violated, while the other side argued that clearly no cauterization or stitching is required in such cases. Clarence Thomas, looking rather self-satisfied, asked if people are receiving serious bodily injury when visiting a pedicurist, to which Alan had no ready reply. Ultimately SCOTUS ruled 7-2 that the loss of a toenail, while a bodily injury, did not meet the threshold for "serious bodily injury" and remanded the case back to the court of appeals to rectify.

[@anthonycamilleri7297]

Thank you Ryan

[@treasurerFinleyASC]

Don't ever peek behind the curtain! DPod uses a teleprompter?! I thought it was all off-the-cuff brilliance.

[@PatrickLaughner]

I'm pretty sure launches have been "sponsored" since October. Don't know if it's NASA or DoD.

[@ale131296]

Still FAA licensed

[@imaginary_friend7300]

Sponsored?

[@johnyount989]

New to Space X at this depth...😮 Subscribed.

[@fwd79]

Good one but I will be waiting more eagerly for changes for Flight 7, hopefully dropping just before flight to get as latest of all information as possible.

[@basbekjenl]

Well good on them for smoothing out that process. The smoother the faster the better, as long as it's safe of course. We wouldn't want to have an incident now do we.

[@metabrix]

That's really fast! But wasn't a WDR or at least a partial prop loading test needed to get the license?

[@ale131296]

Nope

[@Wurtoz9643]

No it’s just that spacex themselves like to do those in order to know that their expensive soda can won’t blow up.

[@katrine-pearls]

GO, GO, SpaceX~ Flight 7 as I've seen the launch of Flight 9 lift-off.

[@dominicdodd9759]

I usuallly glaze over a bit when NSF tackles 'regulatory concerns', but this was really interesting and very well presented!

[@c.s.miller]

I feel like the math meme. I may need a diagram with lots of string and pushpins and das art… So what you’re saying is we good? Flamey end down and let’s go!

[@stevemak8620]

Ryan is the best in the biz...

[@AngryPenguin22]

I thought the thumbnail was a penguin for a moment.

[@sparkysparklepants]

Yeah. NASA Space X finally got its BBC TV licenses.

[@kristerkristian]

space x must have done a million or more tests with their starship.. just curious, why is blue origin seem to be not doing any testing at all? they may have a few on-ground tests but zero on anything else that leaves the ground. were they expecting perfect rocket performances on the very first launch and subsequent launches?

[@clayel1]

they are planning a static fire very soon, and have already done a partial dress rehearsal

[@imaginary_friend7300]

They went with the legacy method of development. More small component testing less full up testing. Ditto for SLS. That's why they fly 1 or 2 test flights to mission certify while spacex using the rapid iteration system flies and breaks a lot. It's faster that way but can also be expensive. Elon tends to be in a hurry.

[@Sputnick_00]

I like your legal words, funny man

[@NadineLynch10]

I hope it’s a birthday launch my birthday is 5 days after Xmas

[@discrete57]

Thank you Ryan. A ton of homework I think on this report, and well done as always.!!

[@iamzid]

i wonder when they're going to do a full orbit before reentry? at this point i feel like we're almost there.

[@Wurtoz9643]

Probably on flight 8 as they want to reenter over starbase

[@ryann6919]

LETS GO!!!!!!!11

[@nathaniel7649]

I feel like i was highly teased with waiting

[@sdebeaubien]

Praise God! I'm still seeing IFT7 happen before EOY, regardless what they said about a January launch.

[@imaginary_friend7300]

No NOTAMS or anything.

[@4DCResinSmoker]

Q: "How did they do this so quickly?" A: $$$

[@richardandersonmolinabetan1783]

Not orbital yet 😢😢😢

[@slartybarfastb3648]

One step leads to the next. The definition of 'iteration'. Now with the Feds out of the way, the rapid part of 'rapid iteration' may finally begin.

[@Jogeta5]

It's on purpose. They can go orbital no problem.

[@imaginary_friend7300]

@@Jogeta5 Most of these people have no real understanding of orbit.

[@slartybarfastb3648]

@@imaginary_friend7300 Agreed. They've reached orbital velocity on every flight. They haven't orbited because the trajectory is not intended for orbit, it's intended to test reentry. There is nothing to be learned from orbit if reentry is the goal of test. Velocity of reentry is the primary concern. That may be acheived without circling the globe.

[@airbreath]

In engineering world revisions are meticulously tracked. Less bureaucracy and more safety/communication.

[@danielwhitehouse7682]

he won our trust wow

[@AlexKosmos153]

Vamos SpaceX 😊

[@seeker4749]

It's not just for f7 is u see the post on space x page it says multiple missions for starship launches (/ )

[@slartybarfastb3648]

Funny how one election happens and Federal agencies suddenly start doing their job with efficiency. Why launch licenses even go through the FAA is a good question, but at least the FAA found the "resources" to do it.

[@imaginary_friend7300]

That's nonsense. The paper work was catching up and there were no modifications made.

[@slartybarfastb3648]

@imaginary_friend7300 That's nonsense. Explain the need for the paperwork. "The paperwork was catching up." Is the goal progress, or is it producing a mountain of paperwork delaying progress? Get out of the way.

[@dphuntsman]

You’re wrong; see my previous comments. - Dave Huntsman

[@slartybarfastb3648]

@@dphuntsman Old space is done. It's time to move with speed, including in the regulatory space.

[@garyfoot2811]

Tower should start in the Pilbara no w

[@imaginary_friend7300]

..why?

[@YeshuaAgapao]

Now the FAA needs to stop being such a bottleneck to Blue Origin and Rocket Lab.

[@imaginary_friend7300]

How are they being a bottleneck to them?

[@Wurtoz9643]

@@imaginary_friend7300same way as with spacex and starship for flight 5, at least with new Glenn

[@DUKE_of_RAMBLE]

Will Mary be rebranding herself as StarbaseGal if/when SpaceX manages to get their area approved to become a village?

[@fishy4617]

maybe because they put a dude frustrated at bureaucracy slowing him down in charge of a government agency targeted at killing any bureaucracy or spending seen as wasteful.

[@sluggo7]

Or, maybe the vehicle/its development process are maturing and becoming familiar and what started out as an undefined blank slate, is now a fleshed out regulatory framework; such that only minor modifications are now necessary. No swamp draining required. Much better public awareness of how things work and people taking responsibility for informing themselves, instead of conjuring up simplistic melodrama, because it's easier, wouldn't hurt, though.

[@J-wm4go]

He's not in post yet. Learn how your country works!

[@fishy4617]

@@J-wm4go ok? he will be in a month or two? FAA gotta start improving their image before then🙄

[@NealeUpstone]

I really appreciate the journalism here. There's a huge amount of detailed summarised. Many thanks Ryan and co.

[@WilboBaggins-dm7ub]

Hmmm complicated these license thingies

[@nicosmind3]

Ahhhh, so mishap means mishap. The more you know!

[@paulhoughton1691]

Don't you want me baby. don't you want me oh oh oh ohhh.

[@JayneCobbsBunk]

Beaurocratic legalese is almost it's own separate language

[@DMANOG]

Fast track

[@jbell6642]

“How did the FAA manage to approve this launch license so quickly?” I figure it’s the sword of Damocles hanging over its head. 😁

[@dphuntsman]

Nope; pay attention. It’s still suborbital; and no really significant changes that would affect what the FAA is concerned about with respect the safety of the UN-involved public. Assuming this flight goes fairly well, Elon will want to go orbital next time- which is NOT covered by this approval. - Dave Huntsman

[@jbell6642]

@ Yes, you’re strictly correct. But it’s the FAA that needs to pay attention, and I’m confident they will. They know in broad terms what plans SpaceX has and they need to move more proactively on processing the launch licenses. There are national interests at stake. If this flight goes well, Elon wants to do more than just go orbital on the next one. He wants to capture the ship. At least that’s what he’s said. The FAA should be preparing a rough draft of that launch licence right now, at least as a contingency. Who knows, maybe they’re doing that as we speak. I don’t think the FAA is evil or has an agenda. And maybe they need more resources to execute on their end of it. But things need to move faster and they know it. There’s a light shining on them.

[@rocksnot952]

When is it going to the Moon? In fact, when will it carry a payload to orbit?

[@imaginary_friend7300]

Probably as development comes to an end. You do understand what being development means right? Of course you don't..

[@bobbrown8661]

Someones afraid of a funding cut

[@doltsbane]

I'm sure not wanting to tick off the guy who will soon be able to gut the FAA budget had nothing to do with expediting approval.

[@imaginary_friend7300]

And how exactly would he gut their budget and how exactly would doing so help things?

[@iamaduckquack]

​@@imaginary_friend7300haven't you heard? The best regulation is no regulation. That way president Musk can launch as many rockets as he wants.

[@spocko2181]

@@imaginary_friend7300are you proud of your ignorance?

[@clayel1]

@iamaduckquackthe best regulation is definitely not no regulation, see challenger, columbia, the falcon 9 failures, etc. regulation is needed, the faa simply doesnt have enough employees to handle rapidly reusable commercial flight (most of their overtime work is just handling spacex)

[@JoelMayo-j9u]

It's amazing story great beautiful wonderful frety fantastic stronger story depecold easy see is know but see don't know everything it's alright all around the world. To doing beautiful creatures with knowledge

[@PNWExplorer509]

The FAA sure moves pretty quick now that they know elon will transform into Thanos in 2025 and wipe out half their budget if not most of it next year lmao

[@snoully8063]

❤😂🎉

[@myvideos1707]

And he Will send Whitaker to work in a post office in Alaska.

[@JGS123WRPTP]

No, the last flight didn’t need a licence so they had lots of time to sort this.

[@imaginary_friend7300]

What ridiculous nonsense you people believe? What's next? Magical powers too?

[@dphuntsman]

Nope. FAA makes sense based on what’s happened; AND, they are only extending the OK to similar suborbital profiles. If this next one goes ok, Elon will then want to go orbital- which WILL- as it should- require another FAA evaluation. - Dave Huntsman

[@scoobedoo5243]

Folks at FAA also understand that Elon will be prominently featured in the upcoming Administration...

[@therealjamespickering]

What? They have approval and they're not launching the same day? The FAA is a bit too efficient these days,or SpaceX is off their game.

[@NickBittrich]

Whats up with this intro?!

[@bellaanis7157]

📌✔️🎯

[@greenleader661]

Hey nerds

[@alexisdespland4939]

fly straship fly.

[@romec3435]

🎄🚀😍

[@ysfex3sew]

The faa didn't change, not yet. This is all due to 47 and the tweetmaster in chief XD

[@customislandtours]

I'd like to see them make it to the landing zone in Hawaii.

[@imaginary_friend7300]

They're not aiming that way anymore.

[@customislandtours]

@@imaginary_friend7300 yeah well, eventually they're going to need to go further than the Indian Ocean.

[@jbell6642]

@@customislandtours Elon has said if the next Indian Ocean ditching goes well, he wants to see the ship do a full orbit and end with a Boca Chica capture. Ever the optimist… : )

[@Thorazine1112]

Does anyone know why the landing zone first moved from Hawaii to India, and then moved to Australia?

[@Wolf480pl]

Wait, so aborting a booster catch would now be a mishap? EDIT: no, it's not, see replies & ignore the fish people part I wonder if it's SpaceX being more confident now that they can catch those boosters, or if it's the Fish People™ not being happy with up to 25 boosters a year being dropped in the gulf

[@ale131296]

No it wouldn't

[@Wolf480pl]

@@ale131296 You're right, for some reason I thought "failure to catch" was on the test induced damage exception list last time, but apparently it wasn't (I'd link Adrian's tweet from Oct 12 but youtube won't let me). It looks like "Gulf of Mexico" was, and still is, on the list of planned destinations in point 4.b.III of the license, so that implies a catch abort would count as "everything as planned". My bad, thanks for pointing it out.

[@RechargeableLithium]

Another suborbital hop? Of course there's no need for an FAA revision.

[@imaginary_friend7300]

They haven't done a suborbital hop in years.

[@paulsongy8366]

Start the show

[@TJCooney]

LFG

[@TimDowningAU]

Maybe the FAA is playing nicely because Jared Isaacman will soon be head of NASA. Being buddies with Elon and also being able to issue a launch licence (NASA and the FAA each have this role) is pretty handy. 😊

[@antonybastin3432]

🙏🇮🇳

[@harryvlogs7833]

I was expecting orbit

[@Syritis]

elon said flight 8 will be orbital, but take that wit ha grain of salt. elon says lots of things

[@hamradioHam]

💰🏛💋

[@Christopher-f3l]

Why does Space X land Starship in the oceans ...there is no visible oceans on Mars . Plus that gotta hurt astronauts on impact .. ouch .lol

[@Wurtoz9643]

Because they need to test them before -landing it on land- catching it out of the sky

[@nerufer]

ah but I present a loophole. Why would spaceX not simply always tell the FAA there will be an uncontrolled re-entry (but attempt a controlled one anyway) and in case it goes wrong, no problem? and in case it goes perfect no problem?

[@clayel1]

an intentional uncontrolled reentry is illegal (unless if you’re china)

[@40MileDesertRat]

The FAA has kissed Elon's ring. It's about time.

[@iamaduckquack]

Well he is the president elect.

[@dphuntsman]

Thumbs Down. Did you even listen to this segment? It’s still suborbital, and there are no significant changes vis a vis flight profile. FAA has given approval for multiple additional suborbital flights OF THIS NATURE from here. BUT, if this one goes well, Elon will want to go orbital on next one- and this approval will not cover that. - Dave Huntsman

[@40MileDesertRat]

@ No. Not much. It put me to sleep. But, if you remember the fish, the water and the sonic boom issues, the FAA has kissed his ring.

[@40MileDesertRat]

@iamaduckquack And own his own space ship. No Boeing airplanes for him.

[@RobetPaulG]

It all sounded reasonable until he claimed the FAA is not harming the launches.

[@clayel1]

it isnt. the only reason ift-5 took a long time is because spacex decided to request a new license well after they already gotten a license to continue doing the same flight, and then the faa got the license a month early

[@imaginary_friend7300]

They're not, I know that's not the pen*s you want to suck.

[@ryelor123]

I think the only reason the FAA was delaying things following IFT4 was because the DOD told them to because the DOD wanted SpaceX to work with them to get launch licenses. IFT4 demonstrated that the ship was the real deal and the military obviously wanted to have control over the project once they realized it worked. This scheme failed.

[@imaginary_friend7300]

Comic book nonsense.

[@Hoodlum555]

Nice video. What happened to the hair? get attacked by a Robomower will sunbathing?

[@Pyromanemac]

2011 Skrillex called and wants his haircut back.

[@corrinastanley125]

Not relevant, the main group of us are here for the facts that Ryan gives us. He knows his stuff and we appreciate that.

[@schlenbea]

It helps to have friends in high places huh, Elon? ;) ;)

[@rangerbaynworkshop]

No but seriously...LOL

[@slartybarfastb3648]

Elon is the guy in high places now. Fortunately for everyone, someone recognized he deserves that high place.

[@rangerbaynworkshop]

@@slartybarfastb3648 Could not agree more! I'm excited to see what this enables him to get done.

[@khanisbrown6424]

Bro you have very high potential to look like a model, you even have a model's face but you just need some fine tuning and some looks maxing too, the proportions are there, you have good genetics, you need to hit the gym too to make your arms look fuller and fit your clothes better. You have high potentials bro

[@user-xi6mr6ve4j]

I love this channel I watch it daily but thus kid gets on my nerves get a haircut

[@dphuntsman]

Not a value-added comment. Let him be himself, because he’s doing a great job. - Dave Huntsman

[@134StormShadow]

Why is his hair choice an issue? Seems very much like a 'you problem'

[@ale131296]

You must have fun listening to the radio

[@corrinastanley125]

Most of us appreciate Ryan and his knowledge .