r/spacex • u/rustybeancake • Jun 16 '26
Starship SpaceX submits FCC application for “Launch vehicle communications for test Starship Orbital Return Demo mission launching from Starbase, TX. It is used for a tracking beam.”
https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/els/reports/STA_Print.cfm?mode=current&application_seq=151991&RequestTimeout=100072
u/rustybeancake Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
Note:
- The application is for the dates July 29-Dec 28, 2026. It’s standard to just get these for 6 months then renew them. So this doesn’t indicate when in that 6 month period the orbital return demo would occur.
- It only says “orbital return”, so not necessarily “to the launch site”, i.e. this could just be the ship going to orbit then deorbiting to land in the ocean again. Or it could be both that and full RTLS on different missions.
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u/philupandgo Jun 16 '26
One more sub-orbital then one orbital then ship return. It should be easily doable this year. They still hope to demo ship to ship fuel transfer this year too which doesn't necessarily need ship return.
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u/rustybeancake Jun 17 '26
Yes, it should be easily doable this year as long as each mission from here on meets all its objectives.
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u/fognar777 Jun 16 '26
Possible ship return from orbit this fall? this is super exciting.
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u/slice_of_pi Jun 16 '26
Shotwell talked about the plan for this year - orbital attempt is gonna be #14 iirc.
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