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SpaceX has secured the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) approval for the Starship Flight 7, the regulator confirmed in an email sent to reporters earlier today. The FAA stressed that Starship Flight 7's approval comes "well ahead" of its launch date and cited the fast approval as "another example of the FAA's commitment to enable safe space transportation." In order to expedite the licensing process for Starship Flight 8, the FAA also shared a list of "test induced damage exceptions" that it will not require a mishap investigation for should they occur on Flight 7.

A mishap investigation prolongs the licensing process for future launches. However, SpaceX's rapid iterations of Starship during the test campaign placed it at odds with existing regulations, leading to significant delays for previous flight approvals.

The only publicly available indication available for Starship Flight 7 right now is a letter sent by NASA to the FAA to allow it to finetune its observation aircraft to monitor the upper-stage Starship rocket. These hint at a January launch. However, SpaceX has already static fired the first and second-stage Starship rockets this month over the course of two weeks. Static fire tests are often among the final few before launch, and the December tests have indicated that perhaps Starship Flight 7 can occur later this month.

Previous Starship launches have occurred within a day of the FAA's approval, but this time around, SpaceX is yet to stack the first and second stage rockets at the launch pad. The firm shared footage of a single Raptor vacuum engine firing earlier today to test it for an in-space relight. This relight first occurred on Starship Flight 6, and it is crucial for the ship's orbital tests as it allows mission controllers to adjust its orbit in case of an anomaly.

The FAA also outlined 'test-induced damage exceptions' that SpaceX had shared with the agency for Flight 7. These are potential anomalies that could create a public safety hazard during flight, and as part of its work evaluating them, the space agency confirmed that "all public safety requirements have been met."

The list of anomalies includes "failure of the thermal shield during high-heating; failure of the flap system during high dynamic pressure; failure of the Raptor engine system during the landing Starship burn; failure of the Raptor engine system during in-space demonstration burn; and failure of Super Heavy systems during post-booster catch vehicle safing," according to the FAA.

Since it has worked through them ahead of time, the FAA will not require SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation in case any of them occur on Starship Flight 7. The FAA added that the exception is conditioned on no loss of life, property damage or debris falling outside designated areas.

SpaceX will try to catch the 232-foot-tall Starship Super Heavy booster with the launch tower during Flight 7. It will also test an upgraded upper-stage ship with new forward flaps, larger tanks and redesigned heat shield tiles, among other changes.