Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to attempt Starship launch in March
If you are well aware about the world of outer space, you must know about Starship. It is a fully-reusable, super heavy-lift launch vehicle that is currently under construction by SpaceX, the American spacecraft manufacturer and launcher as well as satellite communications developer that is owned by Elon Musk.
Recently, Musk himself tweeted that SpaceX will be attempting to launch the Starship rocket system in the next month itself. Earlier, it was scheduled for late February but is now being postponed due to some unexplained reasons.
This would be the maiden Starship orbital launch attempt that will orbit the Earth for the first time.
Deemed as the tallest and most potent launch vehicle to have ever been built and also the first with the capacity for total reusability, SpaceX is attempting to use Starship to carry both people and cargo to the Moon and the Mars. They are also aiming to use it to perform other tasks as well such as deploying most of the company’s big next-generation Starlink 2.0 internet satellites.
What’s interesting is that, the fully-reusable launch vehicle has two parts: a giant first stage super heavy prototype called Booster 7 and a 165 foot tall upper stage called Ship 24. According to Musk, together they are called Starship could revolutionise colonisation of Mars and even make it economically possible for the public.
If everything goes as per plan, Booster 7 will first be deployed followed by a 90 second gap when Ship 24 will follow. This launch will take place from Starbase, SpaceX’s launching facility in south Texas. While Booster 7 will come down within an hour of lift-off into the Gulf of Mexico, Ship 24 will revolve around the Earth following which it will splash down into the Pacific Ocean near Kauai, the Hawaiian Island.
So far, both Booster 7 and Ship 24 have accomplished a number of milestones. For instance, on 23rd January, the duo passed a vital fuelling test. Likewise, a couple of days later, Ship 24 underwent a full capacity static launch. As part of this, the engines were briefly lit while the spacecraft remained anchored to the ground.
Starship has been under development for more than two years and its upcoming launch will be a significant leap forward.