With the Federal Aviation Administration and US Fish and Wildlife Service approving the final signoff and license and SpaceX saying the rocket is ready, Starship set sail from Starbase on its second test flight Saturday. Liftoff at the first attempt followed only a one day slip to fix an issue with Booster 9’s grid fin actuators.
During Starship’s first test flight, which took place on April 20, 2023, SpaceX experienced several issues that led to the loss of control and, ultimately, the loss of Booster 7 and Ship 24. For this second flight, SpaceX made several changes to the booster, ship, and the launch pad – resulting in numerous successful milestones.