A few hours ago, Elon Musk gave an update on SpaceX's Starship project, which is being prepared in Texas. The company hopes to take a major step this year on its road to Mars by offering a first orbital flight.
The SpaceX company is developing a giant rocket known as the Starship. Once in place, this fully reusable launcher/vessel combo could allow human exploration of the Moon, Mars and why not the rest of the Solar System. So far, the prototypes have only made a handful of low-altitude jumps from Earth's surface, but the vehicle is on track to earn its "orbital wings" in the not too distant future, according to the founder and CEO of the Elon Musk Company.
“I am very confident at this point thatwe will get into orbit this year “Musk said Thursday night from Starbase, SpaceX’s facility in South Texas. For the pleasure of the eyes, the boss of the company made his intervention in front of the fully stacked Starship rising to about 119 meters above ground. That's taller than any other rocket ever built.
SpaceX aims to have the vehicle ready to fly around the time the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concludes its environmental assessment of Starbase, either by the end of the month . Musk expressed optimism that the review will eventually go the way of SpaceX. Otherwise, the company already has the necessary approvals to launch Starship from its facilities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. It will be enough for the company to build a launch and capture tower on site, which could delay the project for another six to eight months.
In addition to Starbase and Florida, SpaceX is also transforming two former oil rigs into offshore launch pads known as Phobos and Deimos, in honor of the two moons Of March. According to Musk, these two structures could be operational by the end of the year.
Starship's first orbital flights might naturally not go entirely to plan. "We'll probably lose a few vehicles along the way “, Musk said. “With the Falcon 9, I think it took us fourteen or fifteen attempts before we managed to land the first booster. I don't think it will take us that long with Starship, because we have that experience, but we certainly won't get it right the first time “.
He also said that the Super Heavy booster, which will lift the Starship from Earth, will be equipped with thirty-three Raptor engines in the future against twenty-nine previously. The latest Starship vehicle will likely also get a power boost, going from its current six Raptors to nine .
