Video: Press site view of Falcon 9’s launch with the Es’hail 2 satellite (members only)

SpaceX defied public safety rules on its most recent Starship launch over South Texas in December, the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday as it approved a license for SpaceX’s next high-altitude Starship test flight scheduled for the same day.

The capsule flying the Ax-4 mission was originally set to launch in support of the Crew-10 mission to the ISS, which launched in mid-March.

SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket, made up of two previously-flown Falcon 9 boosters and a beefed up central core stage, made the trip to launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and was raised vertical Thursday for testing ahead of its first liftoff next month.