SpaceX is still working toward an orbital test for the Starship megarocket, an event CEO Elon Musk previously hinted would come in late 2022. That didn’t happen, but Musk now says there’s a possibility the next-gen rocket will head into space for the first time in February, and if not then, it’s a lock for March. If successful, this test could pave the way for big things in commercial spaceflight.
Development of Starship has been ongoing for a decade, dating back to Musk’s announcement of the Mars Colonial Transporter in 2012. That project later became the Interplanetary Transport System and then the Big Falcon Rocket before Musk finally settled on Starship. Instead of being geared toward Mars colonization, which Musk still insists on pursuing, Starship will start with lunar missions and heavy payload deployment to Earth orbit. Before any of that can happen, it needs to reach orbit.
So far, Starship has only completed a high-altitude test flight sans the Super Heavy first stage, but it’s going to need all that power to leave Earth behind. SpaceX recently stacked Starship 24 atop Super Heavy Booster 7, again assembling the largest and (theoretically) most powerful rocket in the world. This follows several static fire tests of both the Starship and Super Heavy Booster. However, one major milestone still exists between Super Heavy and a real launch: a full static fire test of all 33 Raptor engines. In December, SpaceX tested 11 of the booster’s engines at once. The Starship itself has six Raptor engines, and SpaceX has successfully fired all of them.
We have a real shot at late February. March launch attempt appears highly likely.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 8, 2023
If the orbital test has any chance of happening next month, you can expect a full 33-engine static fire test for Super Heavy in the coming weeks. Musk’s confidence regarding a March launch sets up another self-imposed deadline for the company’s megarocket. While the Falcon 9 is still setting the standard for heavy-lift rocket launches, many of the company’s most vital initiatives rely on Starship reaching orbit. SpaceX’s Gen 2 Starlink satellites are too large to be efficiently launched on the Falcon 9, and NASA has contracted the company to provide a human-rated version of Starship for the Artemis lunar landings.
In a couple of months, we’ll either be talking about more delays for Starship or marveling at the latest advancement in reusable rockets.
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