Elon Musk lost his claim to having the most powerful rocket worthy of space when NASA launched its massive rocket to the Moon in November.
But the SpaceX founder could reclaim the title with his company’s next big project. Starship, SpaceX’s skyscraper rocket and spacecraft, will launch on its first mission soon. During the test flight, the massive booster will separate about three minutes after liftoff and land in the Gulf of Mexico, according to federal filings.(Opens in a new tab). The ship will fly into space around the Earth at an altitude of more than 150 miles, then drop off the coast of Hawaii(Opens in a new tab).
This will be an important demonstration of the hardware NASA is relying on to return humans to the Moon in the next few years. If successful, it would mean Musk is one small step closer to realizing his personal dream of building a city on Mars.
Update: April 9, 2023, 12:54 PM EST SpaceX has assembled the Starship at the launch pad and plans to hold a rehearsal this week, “followed by the first integrated flight test of the Starship.” Musk tweeted on April 9 that the company is ready to launch the rocket, pending approval of the FAA license. A launch attempt this month seems more plausible, with an FAA operational advisory plan indicating SpaceX is targeting Monday, April 17th.
The billionaire business mogul has had periods of overselling in the past, but that’s what we know so far.
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What is SpaceX Starship?
Starship is a super heavy rocket and spacecraft, built to carry a huge payload and several astronauts into deep space.
A 400-foot stainless steel tower looms over a NASA rocket, Space Launch System. It would take about five billboards stacked on top of the latter to fit Musk’s spacecraft. SpaceX estimates that the rocket has about twice the thrust.
The missile is made of stainless steel, a material that Musk particularly likes due to its relatively low price. Unlike NASA’s giant moon rocket, which flies on super-cooled liquid hydrogen and oxygen, this monster is powered by 10 million pounds of liquid methane and oxygen. The new fuel can be stored at controlled temperatures(Opens in a new tab) of liquid hydrogen, which means it doesn’t need as much insulation and is less likely to leak, a problem that often hinders NASA launches.
SpaceX’s Starship is made of stainless steel and runs on liquid methane.
Credit: SpaceX
Starship aims to develop into a fully reusable launch and landing system, designed for flights to the Moon, Mars, and other destinations. Reusing it is the “holy grail of space,” Musk said at a company event in South Texas in February 2022, because it will make spaceflight more accessible to the average person.
“It’s very difficult,” he said. “It’s hardly possible with Earth physics.”
“It’s hardly possible with Earth physics.”
NASA tapped SpaceX to develop a human landing system version of the spacecraft.
Credit: SpaceX
How will NASA use the spacecraft?
NASA plans to use Starships to land astronauts on the Moon during Artemis III and IV(Opens in a new tab)Two upcoming missions could come in 2025 and 2027, respectively.
SpaceX took advantage of the space agency(Opens in a new tab) To develop a human landing system version of the Starship with a $4 billion contract. As part of the deal, the company will need to pre-proof an uncrewed test flight to the moon.
During Artemis III, the Starship will transport astronauts from NASA’s Orion spacecraft to the lunar south pole and back. But on the fourth mission, the Starship is expected to dock at a space station orbiting the moon, a portal not yet built, and ferry astronauts back and forth to the moon.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told reporters in December that SpaceX appears to be on schedule for the decade and plans to perform an unmanned moon landing at the end of this year. This mission will be followed by another landing with astronauts in late 2024.
“Slips are always possible because it’s a whole new system,” Nelson said. “But they’ve been very influential with what they’ve done with other systems.”
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What is the date of the first launch of the spacecraft?
SpaceX is already getting close to launching the Starship, despite the fact that the company has not officially announced a date.
Shortly after January, the company stacked the jumbo rocket at its launch pad on the Texas Gulf Coast, then loaded it with fuel for a so-called “rehearsal.” SpaceX said the test, which is a key exercise for any new rocket, was a success.
The team dismantled the Starship for a test launch of the 33-rocket Raptor engines. Musk said on Twitter on February 9 that 31 of the 33 engines have been fired for the duration of the ground test — “still enough engines to get into orbit.”
“Slips are always possible because it’s a brand new system. But they’ve been very cool with what they’ve done with the other systems.”
But in order for Starship to actually reach the ignition, the FAA must authorize the launch, which won’t happen until “SpaceX has met all licensing, safety, and other regulatory requirements,” according to the agency’s statement provided to Mashable in January when asked about the status. A spokesperson said the review was ongoing.
A launch attempt this April seems more plausible, with an FAA operational advisory plan(Opens in a new tab) Referring to SpaceX is It targets Monday, April 17th, though the license has yet to be issued.
The SpaceX Starship will launch for the first time from its spaceport in Boca Chica, Texas.
Photo credit: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
Where will the spacecraft be launched?
Perhaps surprisingly, Starship won’t launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where most space fans are accustomed to witnessing historically important launches.
Instead, it will take off from Boca Chica, Texas, in SpaceX’s spaceport. Ultimately, the company will launch the rocket from a site under construction in the outer perimeter of the famous Florida platform that launched Apollo 11 to the moon.
“Their plan is to do a few more test flights out there” in southern Texas, Nelson said. Once they have confidence, they will bring the missions to the Cape.”
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How likely is Starship to succeed?
SpaceX has launched partial prototypes of the spacecraft for landing practice, and many have exploded or crashed in the process. One of them managed to return safely, in May 2021, after flying six miles into the sky.
Musk, who doesn’t mince words when it comes to the realities of spaceflight, once said that testing a spacecraft in space wasn’t likely to work on the first try.
“There are a lot of risks associated with this first launch, so I wouldn’t say it was likely to be successful.”
“There are a lot of risks associated with this first launch, so I wouldn’t say it was likely to be successful,” he said during a video conference.(Opens in a new tab) with the National Academies Committee in 2021. “But I think we’ll make a lot of progress.”
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What is SpaceX’s plan for Mars?
The SpaceX founder’s ultimate vision is to use a fleet of Starships to send a million(Opens in a new tab) Humans to Mars by 2050.
To be clear, Musk not only wants to create a place for people to visit but a self-sustaining city. He imagines that with a bit of warming, humans could restore a thick atmosphere and oceans on Mars, making it a more hospitable environment, and even able to grow crops.
“There is a fundamental juncture in the history of any civilization really on one planet, and that is, does it reach the second planet, or does it not?” Musk told the National Academies in 2021. “I’m suggesting we do it, and I think we should do it as quickly as possible,” Musk told the National Academies in 2021.
SpaceX test launched a prototype spacecraft to Earth in December.
Credit: SpaceX
“There is a fundamental juncture in the history of any civilization really on one planet, and that is, does it reach the second planet, or does it not?”
The spacecraft will be roomy enough for 100 passengers, plus their luggage, plus materials to build homes, businesses, rocket fuel stations, and iron foundries.
It will be a long journey to get there, Musk said, but Starship will have entertainment(Opens in a new tab)such as zero gravity games, movies, lectures, and the restaurant.
“You can’t get bored or bored,” he said at the International Astronautical Congress in 2016, in Guadalajara, Mexico. “It would be really fun for you to go. You’re going to have a great time.”
NB: This article was originally published on February 4, 2023.