Episode 1509: Starship Launch Delays – a Triple Whammy?

SpaceX’s effort to launch its second integrated test of Starship is likely facing a triple whammy of delays, including a new one that should really be of no surprise to the company. It certainly is no surprise to Eric Roesch, who joins us on this episode to discuss the latest developments in the saga.

First, there’s the well-known environmental lawsuit brought by a consortium of environmental and tribal groups against the FAA and SpaceX. This case showed a little movement on July 25, 2023, and all the details on what did transpire in court filings on that date can be found here. 

Turns out that the latest filing in the case (as of this writing) would extend the deadline for proposing a briefing schedule as to summary judgment within 14 days of the Court’s resolution of Plaintiffs’ motion challenging the Administrative Record, if any is filed. And that resolution could come as late as December 2023 or January of 2024, or maybe even later. And all of this time may be used up just to get to the point where all sides agree on what the tools look like that they’re going to use to prosecute the case.

Second, the FAA just reminded everyone on July 26th that SpaceX has not yet submitted a Mishap Investigation Report for its review. This report would outline what SpaceX needs to do to demonstrate to FAA that Starship is safe enough for another launch attempt.

And the third element of the triple whammy? The new water deluge system freshly installed and tested beneath the Orbital Launch Mount (OLM) has no Industrial Wastewater Permit to go with it. Eric gives us a full rundown of all the wonky stuff, as well as the inside scoop as to how long a delay this could cause (spoiler alert: it’s a long time!). And not only has SpaceX not applied for the permit yet, but according to Eric, SpaceX knew they had to do it way back when they wrote the latest Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) that governs the whole environmental shooting match. Is there something that SpaceX knows that we don’t, which will let them circumvent the Clean Water Act? How will SpaceX pull this off?

 Please be sure to let us know your thoughts on the topics we discuss. You can always reach us at mailbag@TalkingSpaceOnline.com .

Show recorded 07-27-2023.

Host: Larry Herrin

Panelist(s): Larry Herrin (Sawyer Rosenstein, Gene Mikulka, Mark Ratterman and Dr. Kat Robison will return)

Podcast Editor: Larry Herrin