Elon Musk said that the first orbital flight of his towering Starship could come in another month or two. It will be the world’s most powerful rocket ever built. Musk is confident Starship will reach orbit by the end of this year.
Musk provided his first major Starship update in more than two years. He was standing alongside the 390-foot rocket at SpaceX’s Texas spaceport.
NASA will use the fully reusable Starship to land astronauts on the moon as early as 2025. Musk is hoping to deploy a fleet of Starships to create a city on Mars.
The initial flights would carry Musk’s internet satellites into orbit. They are called Starlinks.
SpaceX’s Super Heavy first-stage booster has yet to launched. The futuristic, bullet-shaped, steel Starship perched on top. It is serving as the upper stage. It successfully launched and landed on its own last May. It followed a series of spectacular explosions. The rocket ship soared nearly 6 miles.
SpaceX is awaiting approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. Then they will proceed with Starship’s next phase which is going into orbit. Musk is expecting that the rocket should be ready to fly by March.
The FAA is demanding more information about potential environmental impacts or lawsuits emerge. Musk said Starship launches could move to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It would delay the first orbital launch by more than half a year.
The full-size Starships are massive and taller than NASA’s past and present moon rockets. Florida’s Cape Canaveral and the southern tip of Texas near Boca Chica Starships could ultimately launch from floating ocean platforms anywhere in the world. Musk’s envisions Starships launching three times a day. The first refilling test could happen by the end of next year.
