Copied! The view of Starship at the Boca Chica launch mount on April 16, just four days before its inaugural flight. Photo: SpaceX The Federal Aviation Administration has completed the safety review of SpaceX’s Starship, moving the company one step closer to its second test flight, pending an environmental review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The explosive inaugural launch of Starship turned into a safety and environmental fiasco—a situation that regulators and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are hoping to avoid the second time around. We’re inching closer to the second flight of SpaceX’s megarocket. The Federal Aviation Administration announced on October 31 that it had completed the safety review portion of SpaceX’s Starship license evaluation, marking an important step forward for the aerospace company. This follows the completion of a comprehensive investigation into the chaotic debut launch of Starship on April 20, which resulted in a self-destruct sequence and dozens of mandated corrections for SpaceX. In an emailed statement, the FAA highlighted that the public safety portion of the review is now complete. However, the regulator clarified that it is not yet in a position to issue a launch license, as there remains one final regulatory hurdle to overcome. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently evaluating the new water deluge system installed at the Boca Chica launch mount, a review that began in earnest on October 19. This assessment, performed under the Endangered Species Act and in consultation with the FAA, could take anywhere from 30 to 135 days to complete. The FWS says it likely won’t need the full allotted time to complete the environmental review, which, if true, could result in Starship taking to the south Texas skies sooner rather than later. The safety review “focused on issues that affect public health and safety of property,” the FAA explained in its statement. “It consists of evaluating the applicant’s safety organization, system safety processes, flight safety analysis, and quantitative risk criteria for launch, reentry, and vehicle disposal.” The joint investigation between SpaceX and the FAA following the inaugural test flight, which ended with the rocket self-destructing over the Gulf of Mexico, identified a total of 63 corrective actions for SpaceX. Notably, 27 of these actions were related to public safety. By September 10, SpaceX reported that all of the identified corrective actions had been completed—corrective actions that, as the completed safety review makes clear, have met with the FAA’s approval.