This is the best summary I could come up with:

The Federal Aviation Administration approved the commercial launch license for the fourth test flight of SpaceX’s Starship rocket Tuesday, with liftoff from South Texas targeted for just after sunrise Thursday.

SpaceX officials also hope to see the Super Heavy booster guide itself toward a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico just offshore from the company’s launch site, known as Starbase, in Cameron County, Texas.

“The fourth flight test turns our focus from achieving orbit to demonstrating the ability to return and reuse Starship and Super Heavy,” SpaceX wrote in an overview of the mission.

Then, on Tuesday, SpaceX lowered the Starship upper stage from the top of the Super Heavy booster, presumably to perform final touch-ups to ship’s heat shield, comprised of 18,000 hexagonal ceramic tiles to protect its stainless-steel structure during reentry.

Ground teams were expected to raise the ship, or upper stage, back on top of the booster some time Wednesday, returning the rocket to its full height of 397 feet (121 meters) ahead of Thursday morning’s launch window.

Presumably, SpaceX, and perhaps federal regulators, would first like to see Starship prove it can execute a braking burn to return to Earth, rather than putting the vehicle into orbit and having it reenter the atmosphere unguided if the engine start failed.

The original article contains 1,928 words, the summary contains 214 words. Saved 89%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!