SpaceX’s most powerful rocket system, which is at the heart of Elon Musk’s dreams of colonizing Mars, could make its first orbital test launch next week.
Starship, which will one day carry astronauts, sits atop a massive Super Heavy booster at a total height of 394 feet.
Booster with 33 rocket motors has passed the test Fixed Launch Test in Februarygenerating enough energy to reach orbit.
But another test run, designated next week, will be the first orbital flight test, when the entire Starship system will fly from SpaceXfacility in Boca Chica, Texas.
The rocket system’s second stage — the ship that will carry a crew of astronauts in the future — will then be deployed and complete a full orbit around Earth before re-entering the atmosphere and falling from Hawaii.
Meanwhile, the Super Heavy booster will attempt to land near the launch site.
A notice issued by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) indicated that the test would likely take place on Monday, with backup dates listed as Tuesday and Wednesday.
That will depend on the granting of a launch license, which the flight regulator said has not yet been done.
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boat moves into place
The FAA list came after the spacecraft portion of Starship, known as Ship 24, was moved to the launch pad.
The part of the rocket used for the test flight was a super-heavy prototype called Booster 7.
SpaceX is building a two-part prototype of Starship for future launches, but the company says it will be a fully reusable transportation system that can carry crew and cargo.
Initially, it will be used to put satellites into orbit — but the SpaceX founder musk already said It will eventually carry astronauts to the moon and even Mars.
nasato help fund the spacecraft, which plans to use it to land Astronauts land on the moon for the first time in over 50 years through its Artemis program.
The privately funded dearMoon mission also aims to carry a crew To the moon and back to the starship.
Musk confident of reaching orbit
Billionaire Musk has said Starship’s first orbital launch has a 50 percent chance of success.
But he sees an 80 percent chance of reaching orbit by the end of the year.
“I’m not saying it’s going to orbit, but I promise it’s going to be exciting. It’s not going to be boring,” he said at a Morgan Stanley media briefing last month.
Upcoming Orbital Tests Nearly Four Years Later Starship debut.
musk wants to use it Help build a colony on Mars ‘within our lifetimes’.