Twitteria is in a tizzy. The reason is once again Elon Musk. He recently announced that the SpaceX Starship is ready for launch. The SpaceX Starship is scheduled to take off for testing before the end of April. It will make flights to Mars possible.
What is SpaceX?
SpaceX is the abbreviation for “Space Exploration Technologies Corporation”. It is a US-American space and telecommunication company. The CEO is Elon Musk. One of the main goals of the company is to develop the so-called Starship rockets. They are supposed to spread life to other planets. And to help colonise Mars. Furthermore, Starship is supposed to be able to fly up to three times a day. What sounds like the dream of a little boy – or slightly megalomaniac multi-billionaire – is not so far-fetched.
After all, the company has mastered all the technical challenges. In the meantime, SpaceX’s spaceships are the most important supply bridges for the International Space Station (ISS). Among other things, Musk’s team succeeded in developing the most powerful launch vehicle available. With the “Falcon Heavy” and its successors, equipment weighing over a hundred tonnes can be brought into orbit. Another achievement that cannot be argued away as long as one is generally pro-space flight: SpaceX developed new methods to reuse rocket parts.
What is Starship?
Since 2017, SpaceX has also been working on completing the “Big Falcon Rocket”, also called “BFR” and later “Starship”. It is intended to enable a manned flight to Mars. It is also supposed to be able to supply a future moon base. The part is a total of 119 metres high. Like any rocket, Starship consists of a lower stage, which serves as a booster, and an upper stage. The latter is the actual spacecraft.
The upper stage was already tested several times in the atmosphere in 2020 and 2021. These tests did not go quite as planned. During the landing, “there were problems”, as the British would say. What actually happened: they exploded. Then, in May 2021, the landing succeeded for the first time. So far, therefore, Starship as a whole has not yet taken off. But according to a tweet by Elon Musk, that is about to change. Although the launch permit is still pending, Starship is reportedly ready for take-off in South Texas.
Journey to Mars
As soon as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gives its OK, Starship is to make it into orbit as a whole for the first time. 33 engines will make this possible. According to the plan, the first stage will be decapsulated after 2 minutes. It will land in the Gulf of Mexico. The upper stage will orbit the earth for 90 minutes with six rocket engines. It will then land in the Pacific Ocean.
Musk is confident. On Twitter on 10 April he said: “Starship launch trending towards near the end of third week of April”. Is it perhaps intentional that the year is missing? Until now, all of Musk’s major projects have been postponed. Sometimes by years. If the test is successful, a trip into space could soon be on the bucket list of the super-rich. Because for “a few million dollars per flight” you could get on board, according to Musk.
