The US Federal Aviation Administration granted a license for the test flight on the afternoon of March 13.
BOCA CHICA, US - SpaceX's Starship, a futuristic vehicle designed to eventually carry astronauts to the moon and beyond, was poised for a third uncrewed test launch on March 14 that Elon Musk's company hopes will carry it farther than before, even if it ends up exploding once again in flight.
Unlike the first two test flights in 2023, aimed mainly at demonstrating that the spacecraft's two stages can separate after launch, the third test flight will involve an attempt to open Starship's payload door and reignite one of its engines in space. Regardless of how well it performs on March 14, all indications are that Starship remains a considerable distance from becoming fully operational.
Closer to home, Musk also sees Starship as eventually replacing the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as the workhorse in company's commercial launch business that already lofts most of the world's satellites and other payloads to low-Earth orbit.