In a discussion for the National Academies Space Studies Board, Musk said, “We’ll complete a bunch of testing in December and maybe launch in January.”
Washington, United States:
Elon Musk released a statement saying that the Starship, which was constructed by his firm SpaceX and selected by NASA for the United States’ return to the Moon, will try its first orbital trip early next year.
In a discussion for the National Academies Space Studies Board, Musk said, “We’ll complete a bunch of testing in December and maybe launch in January.”
“With this first launch, there’s a huge risk,” he remarked. “I wouldn’t say it’s likely to succeed, but I believe we’ll make significant progress.”
Starship has already completed a number of sub-orbital missions. SpaceX has finally landed the spacecraft, which is supposed to be reusable, after repeated testing that resulted in spectacular explosions.
It will be outfitted with an ultra-powerful first stage designated Super Heavy for the impending orbital test.
The US Federal Aviation Administration is expected to approve the project “before the end of the year,” Musk added.
Before carrying out a series of checks, the billionaire entrepreneur — who also founded electric manufacturer Tesla — said he wanted to have completed the launch pad and launch tower this month.
After the January test launch, he plans on launching a dozen or more times by the end of 2022.
“In 2023,” he stated, Starship will be operational to transfer goods outside of tests.
NASA is betting on Starship to be the lander used in its Artemis mission to return humans to the Moon, which is set to launch in 2025 at the earliest.
But Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, has even greater plans for the “largest rocket ever created.”
“With starship, we want to establish a generic way of moving massive amounts of material or people… anywhere in the solar system,” he explained.
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