The subsequent flight of Elon Musk’s next-generation area automobile, Starship, appears as if it has been only a few months away for over a yr now. However now the SpaceX founder’s ambition to ship his magnum opus rocket to orbit for the primary time within the coming weeks is starting to really feel extra attainable.
When requested on Twitter Wednesday when the primary orbital flight of Starship would possibly lastly occur, the world’s richest man replied, “Late subsequent month possibly, however November appears extremely probably.”
A Starship prototype labeled SN15 accomplished a high-altitude flight (inside Earth’s environment) and landed with out exploding on Could 5, 2021. That is the final time the spacecraft, which NASA hopes to make use of to ship Artemis astronauts again to the lunar floor, has left the bottom.
Since then, Musk and SpaceX have been busy getting ready for the primary orbital demonstration flight of Starship, which is able to see the automobile blast off atop a Tremendous Heavy Booster for the primary time. Simply this week the large first-stage booster was fired up on the check stand for the primary time with seven engines blasting. That is greater than double the variety of engines of the earlier check and fewer than 1 / 4 of engines that may make up a totally loaded Tremendous Heavy, which is designed to launch with 33 complete engines.
Along with finishing testing and getting Tremendous Heavy able to go, SpaceX wants a launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration earlier than it may possibly launch Starship (not that this requirement has at all times stopped the corporate prior to now).
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SpaceX Starship is preparing for its first orbital flight
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So ultimately, all eyes are on the FAA, which gave SpaceX a tentative approval when the launch plan passed a key environmental review in June, but with 75 required changes to the mission profile that need to be completed before the license is handed over.
Meanwhile, Musk is hoping to do a full “wet dress rehearsal” of the launch and test fire a 33-engine Super Heavy for the first time in the coming weeks.
When Starship and Super Heavy finally launch together, the test flight will send the former for a brief trip to orbit followed by a splashdown off the coast of Hawaii while Super Heavy comes in for a landing attempt on a modified oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
