Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur, announced that SpaceX’s deep-space rocket Starship is prepared to launch from its facility in Texas. The Federal Aviation Administration has scheduled the rocket’s orbital test flight for April 17, but SpaceX requires approval for a launch license before proceeding. Starship is the most powerful rocket globally and intends to transport people to the Moon and eventually to Mars. Musk confirmed its readiness for launch on Sunday, pending regulatory authorization.
The Starship rocket system is composed of two stages: the Super Heavy launch vehicle and the Starship spacecraft. With a thrust of 3,991 tonnes, it surpasses the Apollo Moon rocket Saturn V by 15%. Under NASA’s Artemis program, SpaceX is developing the Starship Human Landing System to transport astronauts to the Moon, with seats already sold to Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa for the first crewed flight, which will include eight artists as part of the dearMoon project.
Jared Isaacman, an American billionaire, is partnering with SpaceX on his Polaris program, a privately-led space mission initiative. As commander of the Polaris III mission, Isaacman will be leading the first crewed flight on the Starship rocket. However, before operations can begin, SpaceX must demonstrate that Starship can safely reach orbit. Achieving a successful orbital test flight would be the first milestone for SpaceX towards making Starship flights a reality. The company has been working on the rocket for several years and has made significant progress in the past year to prepare for the test flight.
On January 24, SpaceX successfully completed a significant fuelling test of the Starship rocket, which is a crucial step before an orbital test flight can occur. The rocket was filled with 4.6 million kg of propellant. During the test flight, the spacecraft will launch from SpaceX’s launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, and the booster will separate from the spacecraft around 170 seconds into the flight.
The booster will partially return and land in the Gulf of Mexico about 32km from the shore. Meanwhile, the orbital Starship will continue flying over the Florida Straits, achieve orbit, and then perform a powered, targeted, soft-ocean landing approximately 100km off the northwest coast of Kauai, a Hawaiian island.