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SpaceX poised for ‘mid-November’ launch of second Starship test flight
More than half a year after its first flight, SpaceX believes it’s on the cusp of getting to launch its Starship rocket for a second time.
On Friday afternoon, the company updated its website to announce that the second integrated flight test (IFT-2) of it’s towering rocket “could launch as soon as mid-November, pending regulatory approval.” Sources suggest the launch could be as soon as Nov. 13, but that’s far from set in stone.
Those regulatory hurdles surrounding the fully reusable launch vehicle are now mainly centered around the conclusion of an environmental review, which is in the hands of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
Earlier this week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had concluded the Starship-Super Heavy safety review. In a statement to Spaceflight Now, the agency said that “The environmental review is the last major element to complete before the FAA makes a license determination.”
SpaceX will debut a number of upgrades to both the rocket itself as well as the launch infrastructure, including their new hot-stage separation system and an electronic Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system.
The FWS has been evaluating one of the key upgrades since IFT-1: the water-cooled steel flame deflector aka the water deluge system.
Reached for comment early Friday morning, an FWS spokesperson said they didn’t have any updates to provide regarding their progress.
Road to the Moon
As was the case with the IFT-1 mission earlier this year, NASA has been eagerly watching the progress of Starship.
SpaceX only has so much time to move through evolutions of Starship before it’s needed to operate as the first vehicle that will be a part of the Human Landing System Program within the overall Artemis Program.
During 2024, SpaceX is expected to demonstrate its ability to transfer propellant from one Starship vehicle on orbit to another, a key milestone needed within the architecture of safely getting the spacecraft to the Moon, down to the surface and back into lunar orbit.
“That will be a really key indicator as to their readiness level,” said Lisa Watson-Morgan, the HLS Program Manager. “And once they get to that point, and once that is achieved, it’s much smaller from there on out.”
That propellant transfer mission will also call upon at least one additional orbital launch mount, which adds to the importance of being able to demonstrate either the success of the changes made or showcase what still needs to be adjusted.
Watson-Morgan told Spaceflight Now last month that this iterative approach can be tricky to step through, but makes things more simplified by the end of the testing campaign.
“And so what that means is by the time they’re at the end of their test campaign, they’re pretty much ready to fly. It’s more of a just, here’s the rest of the documentation. Let’s go in and certify,” Watson-Morgan said. “So, while yes, these are early developmental flights, and they’re not what the Human Landing System Starship will be, in that it doesn’t have our life support, it doesn’t have our comm system, it doesn’t have those aspects, but it is still very important and required. So for us, schedule is key.”
We’ll see when launch number two ends up on the schedule.
注释：
cusp: n
表示" 尖头；尖端；交点"，如：Cusp leather shoes were allegedly traceable from France. 尖头皮鞋据说起源于法国。We are just on the cusp between autumn and winter.此时正是秋冬之交。
determination: n
表示"决心；测定"，如：He was utterly ruthless in his determination to succeed. 他下定决心争取成功。
deflector: n
表示" 变流装置；偏针仪"，如： air deflector 空气偏导器 flame deflector 火焰反射器
aka: abbr
表示" 又叫做；亦称为"，means "also known as"，如：Esotropia is inward turning of the eyes (aka "crossed eyes").
内斜视是眼球内转（又名“对眼”）。
deluge: v
表示" 泛滥；大量涌入"，如：The spring thaw caused the river to deluge the region. 春天冰雪融化，使河水泛滥淹没了那地区。
propellant: adj
表示"推进的"，如：Some stratification exists in the spray produced by any liquid propellant injector.由任何液体推进喷注器所产生的喷雾都存在某些成层现象。
iterative: adj
表示"迭代的；重复的"，如：The analysis becomes an iterative process. 这一分析计算工作实际上是一个逐次迭代的过程。
中文简要说明：
今年4月，SpaceX的星舰火箭首次飞行，却以爆炸收场。半年多后的现在，SpaceX宣布，11月中旬可能迎来第2次发射。
太空飞行(space flight now)报导，SpaceX网站宣布，他们耸立一段时间的星舰-超重型火箭的第二次综合飞行测试（IFT-2）「最快可能在 11 月中旬发射，尚待监管部门批准」。
消息人士指出，最快可能会在11月13日发射，但这只是公司的猜测，还未得到美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）的确定。
上星期， FAA网站提到「已完成星舰-超重型火箭安全审查」。不过该机构的声明表示，「还有环境审查要通过，那是美国鱼类和野生动物管理局（FWS）负责，他们同意之后，FAA才会发出发射许可。」
在经过4月的失败后，SpaceX对火箭本身，以及发射基础设施都进行多项升级，其中最大的改是第二级火箭的「热级分离系统」，也就是第二级火箭可以主动点火脱离，避免上回因速度不足无法脱离的情况。另外，33具火箭引擎的电子推力向量控制 (TVC) 系统也做出改良。
上一次的发射，巨大的火箭喷气对底下的水泥基座造成严重破坏，因此FWS 一直在评估发射台的减震升级：水冷式钢制火焰偏转器，又称为水淋系统。
太空飞行网站询问FWS，是否同意了Space X的修正，他们没有提供有关进展的最新消息。
NASA 一直在热切关注星舰火箭系统的进展，这对2024年是否可以再次前往月球非常重要。NASA 与波音合作的太空发射系统(SLS)火箭的研发进度并不顺利，时间太长，也过于昂贵，因此阿提米丝计划(Artemis)有可能改用星舰火箭进行。
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