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SpaceX chief Mr. Elon Musk has reiterated that his firm can fly the Starship rocket again in months. The latest timeline is similar to the one shared by the executive late last month, in which he had shared that the test could take place as soon as July, explaining that SpaceX is upgrading the launch pad, following which it would test Starship at the site. These upgrades come as, instead of the rocket being a cause of concern during Starship's maiden flight test in April, the launchpad surfaced to be the biggest headache to SpaceX. The pad was unable to meet the stress of millions of pounds of thrust and hot gas from the world's largest rocket which led to a massive crater at the site along with chunks of concrete and dust flying around.

Elon Musk Gives 8 Week Timeline For Starship Flight Test 2

Just as Starship flight test 1 ended in flames and the first visuals of the launchpad's devastation started to make their way, Musk was quick to state that the next test would take place in a couple of months. NASA's Admiidministrator Bill Nelson shared more details about the second flight test in a Congress hearing where he outlined that SpaceX had told him that it would conduct the Starship flight test 2 in two months as it finetuned the next test rocket and built the launchpad at the same time.

Administrator Nelson shared these details in late April, explaining to members of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology that SpaceX is a "hardware rich" company that has plenty of test vehicles.

SpaceX's commitment to conduct the second Starship flight test in less than a year, contrary to concerns of needing at least a year to build out the launch pad, came in the form of a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in May. This filing laid out a six month timeline for the test starting from mid June and it was approved by the FCC earlier this month. For a rocket test, SpaceX has to file applications with both the FCC and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), seeking permission to communicate and operate the rocket, respectively.

Elon Musk during SpaceX's first Starship flight test in April. Image: SpaceX

Musk added to this timeline in comments made soon after, which promised the Starship flight test 2 in two months. He explained that SpaceX is undertaking 'major launchpad upgrades' which should be finished in a month, after which it would take another month to test the rocket at the rebuilt site.

Now, nearly a month after he shared a two month timeline for what is perhaps the most highly anticipated event in the aerospace industry, the executive is back with fresh estimates. According to him, Starship test flight 2 can take place in "6 to 8 weeks," adding another month to the initial two month timeline shared last month.

A key hurdle for SpaceX when planning for the next Starship test is securing approval from the FAA. The firm's launch license that allowed it to proceed with the April test had limited it to only one launch - with any further tests subject to the FAA's approval. The agency is responsible for ensuring the rocket is suitable for a test flight and determining whether the launch site is safe. FAA approvals are often a long process, and no one is more familiar with this than SpaceX - which has had to wait for quite some time for approvals as it speeds ahead to make the world's largest rocket operational.