Starship is ready for a space visit. Developed by SpaceX, Starship is a reusable launch vehicle. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said that the company will try to fly a Starship early next year. This will be the first orbital flight for the vehicle. Musk said that engineers are targeting January or February for the launch. If all goes as per the plan, the flight will be followed by more flights shortly. Musk’s announcement about Starship came even as the vehicle is still under development stage. Notably, the company is yet to obtain regulatory approval for launching the rocket. Notably, clearance from the regulator is necessary before the launch. The company had earlier obtained clearance from the FDA for the test flights of the prototype.
Musk said that he aims at least a dozen Starship launches in 2022. Starship has two elements. SpaceX claims that both are fully reusable. The company has designed and developed the vehicle in a way that it could be rapidly relaunched. The first element uses the first-stage booster. It is known as Super Heavy. The second element is a spacecraft. It is called Starship. SpaceX said that both are powered by Raptor engines. It is a next-generation engineer developed by SpaceX. While six will be used for Starship, 29 Raptors will power the Super Heavy. Musk aims to fly humans and payloads to the Moon and Mars. Besides, other distant destinations in space are on the list. Musk wants to develop a fully reusable space transportation system for this purpose.
Musk has said that Starship’s first uncrewed flight to Mars will probably be launched in 2024. SpaceX has already launched several test flights with Starship prototypes. The prototypes achieved a maximum altitude of about 6 miles above the Earth’s surface. The prototypes featured three engines. These vehicles returned to the launch site after flying. The introduction of a fully reusable rocket is crucial in redefining the industry. It will cut down the launch costs and overall mission costs as well.
