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SpaceX did contact the Space Agency in July to seek permission to land and recover Starship off Australia’s coast, new emails released under freedom of information laws have suggested.
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The correspondence between the Elon Musk-owned company and the Australian Space Agency reveals that the activity was discussed “at a high level” with Defence and advised that an approval process could take around six months.
It also detailed how a meeting was planned with the US State Department to confirm “government to government requirements”, alongside stating that both CASA and Airservices Australia would be contacted.
It comes after Reuters, the respected news agency, reported earlier this year that SpaceX was in talks to tow Starship over water “to a nearby port on Australia’s western or northern coasts” after splashdown.
If recovered, engineers would be able to better analyse the flight and make future improvements to its design.
Starship is the collective name for the SpaceX Super Heavy booster rocket and Starship spacecraft, destined to fly humans to Mars one day.
Testing began in April last year when the spacecraft failed to reach orbit but culminated in an incredible “chopstick”-style catch of its Super Heavy booster in October, effectively making it reusable. A sixth test last month was watched by President-elect Donald Trump.
The plan for Australia to potentially aid SpaceX’s testing of Starship follows the CEO of Space Centre Australia revealing in October that his spaceport had been in touch with the US company over potentially hosting future launches.
James Palmer said SCA had already been involved in a “bunch of conversations” over future blasts off that, while not “at Elon’s level yet” in time, would be. “They said there was a lot of potential to work with us,” he revealed.
The FAA also appears to be close to approving SpaceX to launch Starship up to 25 times a year after a new environmental review raised no concerns. The launch company is currently restricted to just five blast-offs, and any increase would also need to come through a public comment period.
However, the environmental review stated that a “modification of SpaceX’s existing vehicle operator licence” contains “no significant environmental changes” and that “all pertinent conditions and requirements of the prior approval have been met”.
