SpaceX will launch the mammoth Starship on Sunday in a launch window that opens at 5 AM PST (7 AM local time) from the company’s Starbase site in southeast Texas. This flight, which will be the fifth in the Starship development program, is coming a little sooner than expected: the Federal Aviation Administration had previously said that it did not anticipate issuing a modified launch license for this test before late November.
Why? They’re providing a service with that contract. NASA isn’t capable or doesn’t want to do everything in house. If they deem it beneficial to outsource some projects to contractors then what’s wrong with that?