With the new water deluge system, SpaceX looks to resolve one of the most significant problems that plagued the Starship during the orbital flight test in April.

It is a major step toward making the firm’s launch infrastructure ready to support a second test flight of the Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket. During the first test flight, the energy and heat from the Super Heavy booster’s 33 Raptor engines cratered NASA’s launch pad and produced chunks of concrete that terribly damaged the orbital launch mount.

According to SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk, the answer calls for “a mega-steel pancake.” Composed of an incredibly thick perforated steel plate that sits directly underneath the rocket, the water deluge system also contains multiple colossal water jets that continually cool it with water, even as the system is bombarded with flames from the rocket’s multiple engines.

Although the precise amount of water released during a full-pressure spray is unknown, a 23-second video of the test Musk posted on X suggests quite a bit. On Friday, shortly after the test, media sources reported that SpaceX had neglected to submit an environmental permit application as required by the U.S. Clean Water Act for the disposal of industrial process wastewater.

It's not clear, though, whether SpaceX would even require such a permit. The main concern is whether chemicals and other pollutants will contaminate the water that is sprayed up at the rocket. If the answer is yes, SpaceX will need a method for getting rid of the water rather than just letting it flow into the nearby wetlands.