​Elon Musk’s Starship gets FAA permission for test flights

The US Federal Aviation Administration has issued a license to test suborbital flights of the Starship spacecraft, created by billionaire Elon Musk‘s company SpaceX, Report says, citing TASS.

Officially, the FAA has granted SpaceX permission to conduct what it terms “reusable launch vehicle” missions, which essentially means that the Starship prototype is now cleared to take off from and land back at the launch site SpaceX operates in Boca Chica. The Elon Musk-led space company has already conducted similar tests, but previously used its “Starhopper” early prototype, which was smaller than the planned production Starship, and much more rudimentary in design.

SpaceX will manufacture two versions of Starship: a “Crew Configuration” and “Cargo Configuration.” The company’s user guide offers insight into the Starship that will be designed especially for the crew. “SpaceX was founded to make life multi-planetary,” it reads, “The Starship program realizes this goal with the crew configuration of Starship.” It will feature a one thousand cubic meter cabin capable of accommodating one hundred passengers. And have private rooms that could host two to three individuals comfortably. “The crew configuration of Starship includes private cabins, large common areas, centralized storage, solar storm shelters, and a viewing gallery.” Starship’s cargo configuration will be capable of deploying over one hundred tons of cargo.