Connect with us

News

SpaceX’s first orbital Starship launch runs into more FAA delays

Published

4 years ago

on

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it’s at least two months behind schedule on an environmental review that must be completed before SpaceX will be allowed to attempt the first orbital Starship launch attempts.

In mid-November, the FAA revealed plans to complete SpaceX’s “SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy Launch Vehicle Program” programmatic environmental assessment (PEA) – a review that can be built upon down the road – by December 31st, 2021, officially delaying Starship’s first orbital launch attempt into 2022. Based on the lack of updates from the FAA and progress with the Starship and booster assigned to the mission, that delay was already largely expected, but the rare update nonetheless confirmed it with certainty. Now, less than a month and a half after the FAA announced its Dec 31st target, the agency has waited until three days before that estimated deadline to announce that it will take at least two more months to complete the review.

Somewhat insultingly, in its official statement on the delay, the FAA appears to attempt to implicate the review of “over 18,000 public comments” received during a comment period as a source of those delays. That six-week comment period ended on November 1st, weeks before the FAA published its first December 31st target date. In other words, for comment reviews to be responsible for any of the new delays, the FAA’s environmental compliance group would have had to underestimate the amount of work required to complete that process by at least 100% – not all that encouraging for an agency in which precision and accuracy are of the utmost importance.

“The FAA plans to issue the Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for the SpaceX Starship / Super Heavy project on Feb. 28, 2022. The previous target date was Dec. 31, 2021.

Under the oversight of the FAA, SpaceX is currently drafting responses for the over 18,000 public comments received on the Draft PEA and continues to prepare the Final PEA for the FAA’s review and acceptance. In addition, the FAA is continuing consultation and coordination with other agencies at the local, State and Federal level.

The environmental review is just one part of the FAA commercial space licensing process.  SpaceX’s license application must also meet FAA safety, risk and financial responsibility requirements.”

The real delays, which the FAA acknowledges in much less detail, are likely the result of “continuing consultation and coordination with other agencies at the local, State, and Federal level [sic].” In the FAA’s defense, some of those delays may technically be out of its control if slow responses from other agencies are partly to blame. Nonetheless, it was the FAA’s decision to wait from November 2020 to June 2021 to actually proceed with SpaceX’s Starship environmental assessment, which the company officially began drafting in March 2021.

Advertisement

Had the FAA started work on the PEA in earnest several months prior, which appears to have been well within its power, SpaceX’s extremely limited orbital Starship PEA might already be complete, allowing the agency to begin ensuring that SpaceX “meet[s] FAA safety, risk and financial responsibility requirements.” If the process of securing a limited license for far less risky suborbital Starship launches is anything to go off of, securing a similar license for orbital Starship launches with 10-20 times the explosive potential could be an agonizing months-long ordeal. It’s ambiguous if the FAA is already deep into that process or if it’s waiting for a complete, approved PEA to begin work on Starship’s first orbital launch license.

Super Heavy B4 and Starship S20 (center) have had exceptionally long and slow test campaigns relative to past prototypes. Booster 4 remains weeks to months away from flight readiness and Ship 20’s status – while much better – is still unclear. (NASASpaceflight – bocachicagal)

Regardless, the fact remains that it’s no longer clear if the FAA’s delays or poor schedule estimates will actually delay Starship’s first orbital launch attempt. Originally said to be no earlier than July 2021 and almost every subsequent month since by Elon Musk, the CEO’s most recent estimate was January or February 2022. According to a relevant NASA research project published a month prior to Musk’s estimate, the space agency anticipated Starship’s orbital launch debut no earlier than March 2022. Now that the FAA doesn’t expect to complete Starship’s orbital-class PEA before February 28th, 2022, March or April 2022 appears to be a more accurate NET.

That will give SpaceX another three months at minimum to – just maybe – finally complete Super Heavy B4’s aft assembly, qualify and fill the methane side of Starbase’s orbital-class tank farm, perform several unprecedentedly ambitious wet dress rehearsals and static fires, really make sure Ship 20 is ready for flight, and activate the orbital launch tower’s massive ‘chopstick’ arms – meant to eventually catch rockets out of the air but also necessary for SpaceX to install Starship on top of Super Heavy.

Related Topics:

Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

Advertisement
Comments

News

Tesla Robotaxi vs. New York Taxi: Why the Yellow Cab has a lot to lose

Tesla Robotaxi could spell the beginning of the end of the New York City yellow cab.

Published

7 hours ago

on

August 13, 2025

By

Tesla appears to be on its way into the Big Apple, and a traditional Yellow Cab in New York City might be a thing of the past in the near future.

As Tesla continues to put an immense focus on the rollout of its Robotaxi platform, it is evident that driverless ride-hailing modes of transportation could truly be the way that many choose to get around. This is especially prevalent in cities like New York, where many people do not own cars. Instead, they choose to walk to hail a cab.

Tesla Robotaxi is headed to New York City, but one thing is in its way

But the limited number of medallions available for taxi drivers in New York City, as well as several other points of emphasis, seem to show the future is here and yellow cabs might soon be a thing of the past.

Instead of working tirelessly to pay off the debt from medallions, entrepreneurs could soon just buy a Tesla and have it work autonomously in New York City. Tesla executives have mentioned figures as high as $50,000 per year in terms of passive income from Robotaxi operation.

That is just the tip of the iceberg, and Robotaxi presents not only one but at least five distinct advantages over the traditional cab platform. With Tesla starting to seek employees to operate Robotaxi rides in New York, according to recent job postings, New York City cabs should prepare for the disruption Tesla could potentially cause.

Lower Operational Costs and Cheaper Fares

Uber and Lyft have already undercut the costs of New York City taxis, but Robotaxi is starting to undercut even those ride-sharing programs in Austin, Texas.

In terms of how much cheaper Robotaxi will be than cabs, it is an exponential measurement over time. Robotaxi will not require salaries, benefits, or tips, and the cost of Robotaxi could end up being just a fraction of what the same ride would cost in a cab.

This feeds right back into medallion expenses and union wages: even buying a Tesla in the next few years that has the capability to operate as a Robotaxi will be a fraction of what medallions cost, which is sometimes $200,000.

Availability and Scalability

Cabs are available at all hours of the day, but at certain times, they are less available.

Robotaxis can technically operate without breaks, other than charging. Tesla has an immense focus on scaling its Robotaxi platform anyway, and once it is available for the public to use in their personal cars, Model Ys and Cybercabs could be roaming the streets of the five boroughs with more reliability and lower wait times than traditional cabs could ever offer.

This is an issue that is even more relevant in smaller cities or less congested portions of New York.

Safer and More Efficient Rides

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology has reported recent safety figures that are ten times less likely to be involved in an accident than a human. Tesla releases a Safety Report for each quarter that proves its safety against human drivers.

As Full Self-Driving continues to advance, it will get better. Riders who want a stable and safe ride could seek Robotaxi instead of going with a human driver. This is something that we’ll likely see more of in the future as sentiment on autonomous driving grows.

Trust in autonomous vehicles has increased substantially over the past ten years. In 2015, surveys showed that trust in autonomous vehicles was low, with only 23 percent of Americans showing that they’d ride in a driverless car.

In 2021, another study performed that asked the same question showed 57 percent of adults would try an autonomous car for their travel.

Seamless App Integration and User Experience

Taxis are not always the most entertaining to ride in, and sometimes they are even more difficult to get a ride in. Robotaxi has already shown to be an incredibly user-friendly experience, with riders being able to choose what temperature the cabin is and what music they want to listen to in the cabin.

The addition of a rear screen also allows riders to choose from a selection of games or YouTube videos in the car.

Hailing a vehicle was basically resolved with the use of Uber and Lyft. Robotaxi is just as good, if not better, from an app standpoint, especially as the in-car climate is able to be adjusted from the Robotaxi app.

Music from one Robotaxi will continue to play in your next one, too. It’s a small luxury, but it’s a feature that is an improvement over a traditional taxi.

The Push for Sustainability by New York City

New York is pushing for a city-owned fleet of all-electric vehicles by 2027.

Its green initiatives, including the Green Rides Initiative, have pushed the city’s rideshare trips to be conducted by either zero-emission or wheelchair accessible vehicles by 2030.

Tesla Model 3 taxis drive NY’s resolution for more all-electric yellow cabs

The focus by consumers to use green or zero-emission vehicles could also steer right into the direction of Tesla Robotaxi, as none of the vehicles in the Robotaxi fleet will be anything but all-electric Teslas.

Carbon neutrality is a goal of the City and its residents. Moving forward, we could see these programs start to put immense pressure on the yellow cab, which could eventually be a thing of the past.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla plans to use Unreal Engine for driver visualization with crazy upgrade

This could change the way Driver Visualization looks for Tesla owners.

Published

9 hours ago

on

August 13, 2025

By

Credit: Tesla Newswire | X

Tesla looks to be planning a major upgrade to its driver visualization for Autopilot with a crazy upgrade from its current version.

Tesla’s driver visualization appears on the center screen and shows the vehicle, its surroundings, and, when it is operating on Autopilot or Full Self-Driving, shows the route of travel.

It has improved over the years, and even includes things like pedestrians, pets, and the shapes of other vehicles. It also helps with manual driving because it can be a good representation of your surroundings when trying to change lanes or merge in traffic.

However, it appears Tesla is planning a pretty substantial upgrade with the

Coding found in the 2025.20 firmware by Tesla hacker greentheonly showed the company is planning to utilize Unreal Engine for Autopilot visualization. He said the one Tesla currently uses is “godot-based.”

Unreal Engine is a 3D computer graphics game engine that was developed by Epic Games, the developer of the popular third-party shooter game Fortnite. It was first released back in 1998, and the most recent version is Unreal Engine 5. The sixth version is in development, and it could be out in 2027 or 2028.

However, Tesla could use it for a more realistic representation of vehicle surroundings. It would undoubtedly improve driver visualization, creating a smoother and freer-flowing depiction of what is outside of the car.

Continue Reading

News

SpaceX is rolling out a new feature to Starlink that could be a lifesaver

Starlink now has a new Standby Mode that will enable low-speed internet access in the event of an outage.

Published

11 hours ago

on

August 13, 2025

By

(Credit: Starlink | X)

SpaceX is rolling out a new feature to Starlink that could be a lifesaver in some instances, but more of a luxury for others.

Starlink is the satellite internet service that Elon Musk’s company SpaceX launched several years ago. It has been adopted by many people at their homes, many airlines on their planes, and many maritime companies on their ships.

SpaceX produces its 10 millionth Starlink kit

It has been a great way for customers to relieve themselves of the contracts and hidden fees of traditional internet service providers.

Now, Starlink is rolling out a new service feature on its units called “Standby Mode,” which is part of Pause Mode. The company notified customers of the change in an email:

“We’re reaching out to you to let you know the Pause feature on your plan has been updated. Pause now includes Standby Mode, which comes with unlimited low-speed data for $5.00 per month, perfect for backup connectivity and emergency use. These updates will take effect in 30 days. All of your other plan features remain the same. You are able to cancel your service at any time for no charge.”

SpaceX did not define how fast these “low speeds” will be. However, there are people who have tested the Standby Mode, and they reported speeds of about 500 kilobytes per second.

The mode is ideal for people who might deal with internet or power outages, but still need to have some sort of internet access.

It could also be used as a backup for people who want to stay with their ISP, but would like to have some sort of alternative in case of an outage for any reason.

Continue Reading

Trending