We might soon witness SpaceX's huge Starship Mars rocket have its orbital flight.
On Wednesday, Elon Musk was asked when the first orbital flight of Starship might possibly happen. His reply is not void of confidence when he tweeted "Late next month maybe, but November seems highly likely."
With this confirmation from the SpaceX CEO himself, we can expect the Starship Mars rocket to go to space as early as October this year.
SpaceX Prepares for the First-ever Orbital Test Flight of Starship
SpaceX has long been preparing for the first-ever orbital test flight of Starship. For those unfamiliar, it is the "huge vehicle that is built to carry cargo and people to the moon, Mars and other distant destinations," as per Space.com.
On May 5, 2021, SpaceX launched a Starship prototype labeled SN15. The prototype completed a high-altitude flight and landed without exploding.
According to CNET, that was the last time the Starship prototype was launch. NASA is hoping to use it for Artemis mission, with the aim of sending astronauts back to the moon.
Since the successful launch of the prototype, Musk and SpaceX have been working to make the first orbital demonstration flight of Starship possible. And finally, next month or on November, we will see the product of their work.
Starship is comprised of a huge first-stage booster called Super Heavy and a 165-foot-tall (50 meters) spacecraft called Starship, according to Space.com.
What's remarkable with Starship is both the booster and spacecraft will be fully reusable. SpaceX used the next-generation Raptor engines to power the booster and the spacecraft, 33 for Super Heavy while six for Starship.
Read Also: Starship Technologies Unveils Their Delivery Robot
Elon Musk Hopes to Conduct Wet Dress Rehearsal Soon
Musk is hoping to conduct a full "wet dress rehearsal" of the Starship's launch in the coming weeks. The SpaceX CEO also hopes to finally test fire the 33-engine of Super Heavy.
Based on SpaceX plans, prototypes Booster 7 and Ship 24 will be used in the coming orbital flight test.
In the past weeks, engine tests in both vehicles were being performed by SpaceX at Starbase, the South Texas facility of SpaceX. On September 7, seven of the 33 Raptors of Booster 7 were lit up.
But aside from conducting the testing and making sure that the Super Heavy is ready to do the orbital flight, a launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must be secured by SpaceX before it can launch Starship, as per CNET.
Currently, everyone is waiting for FAA's decision. SpaceX obtained a tentative approval after the launch plan passed a key environmental review in June.
The tentative approval comes with 75 required changes to the mission profile. These changes need to be satisfied first before the license is given.
Once it's clear to go, the test flight of Starship will begin at Starbase. During the test flight, Ship 24 will be sent on an orbital trip.
It is expected to end with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, while Booster 7 is expected to come down in the Gulf of Mexico.
Related Article: SpaceX Starship Environmental Review Delayed Again by FAA - When is the New Date?
