SpaceX gets FAA approval for Flight 8 of Starship megarocket

SpaceX now has permission to launch its Starship megarocket for the eighth time.

Elon Musk's company is targeting Monday evening (March 3) for Flight 8 of Starship, which will lift off from Starbase in South Texas, near the border city of Brownsville. That date had been a bit fuzzy for some time, as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had not given its approval for the launch until now.

"The FAA issued a license modification authorizing the SpaceX Starship Flight 8 launch," FAA officials said in an emailed statement today (Feb. 28). "The FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental and other licensing requirements for the suborbital test flight."

Starship last launched on Jan. 16, for a test flight that was partially successful. The company managed to catch the vehicle's giant first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, using the "chopstick" arms of Starbase's launch tower. But Starship's upper stage suffered a propellant leak and exploded over the Atlantic Ocean, bringing a premature end to the mission.

The FAA is overseeing the SpaceX-led investigation into the Flight 7 anomaly, which is ongoing despite the newly granted approval.

"After completing the required and comprehensive safety review, the FAA determined the SpaceX Starship vehicle can return to flight operations while the investigation into the Jan. 16 Starship Flight 7 mishap remains open," the FAA's emailed statement reads.

Related: SpaceX catches Super Heavy booster on Starship Flight 7 test but loses upper stage (video, photos)

Flight 8 is scheduled to lift off on Monday during a window that opens at 6:30 p.m. EST (2330 GMT; 5:30 p.m. local Texas time). You'll be able to watch the action live here at Space.com.

Flight 8's goals are similar to those of Flight 7. SpaceX will try for another Super Heavy booster catch, and Starship's upper stage, known as Ship, will travel much of the way around Earth before splashing down in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia.

Ship will attempt to deploy four payloads — mock versions of SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites — on its suborbital trajectory. The upper stage carried 10 dummy Starlinks on Flight 7 but never got the chance to eject them into space.