SpaceX is on track to achieve its most ambitious goals. The CEO of the aerospace company, Elon Musk, said that Starship, the two-stage transportation system that is being designed to reach the Moon and Mars, could make its first orbital flight in early 2022 . However, the mogul has warned that the test might not be a success.
The founder and current CEO of SpaceX, provided updated details on Starship's progress in a video call with members of the US National Academy of Sciences. The company aims to make the first orbital flight attempts in January or February of next year . And if there are no setbacks, “a dozen launches” or maybe more will follow.
“There is a lot of risk associated with this first launch”, recognized Elon Musk, In that line, he pointed out that “ I would not say that it is likely to be successful “. Certainly, it is contemplated that this type of initial testing something goes wrong. In early 2021, the Starship SN10 managed to land safely on the surface. However, seconds later it exploded into a thousand pieces due to a fire in the area of the engines. The SN15's performance, meanwhile, was great.
What will the Starship orbit test be like?
Credit: Darrell Etherington Starship is a fully reusable space transportation system. It is designed to carry astronauts and cargo to distant places such as the Moon and Mars. But it is not a single piece. This is made up of the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy rocket . SpaceX assures that, when the system is completed, it will become the “most powerful launch vehicle in the world”.
Since the project's inception, SpaceX has conducted several test flights with prototypes of the various Starship stages from the Starbase in Texas. However, these tests, in the best of cases, reached a maximum altitude of 10 kilometers and had reduced configurations in the total number of engines and, consequently, in the power.
Starship's first orbital test flight will be conducted with the complete system. The spacecraft, named SN20 , will have a six-engine Raptor configuration. The Super Heavy , known as Booster 4, will debut the 29 engines that the company installed in August of this year. The test plan is as follows: the set will take off from the Starbase, while Booster 4 will descend on the Gulf of Mexico. For its part, the SN20 will go around the planet and make a landing in the Pacific Ocean. We emphasize that it is very likely that it will not be successful.
