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The world’s most powerful space rocket, the SpaceX Starship, is ready for its first orbital test flight. Elon Musk has reported that the vehicle is stacked and pending regulatory approval.
SpaceX Starship is fully prepared for an historic test flight. It is the world’s largest and most powerful space rocket. Starship is considered an important beacon of hope for SpaceX, the US space industry, and the whole world. This should be an important basis for future missions to Mars. According to SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk, the vehicle is stacked and ready to fly. At the moment, the company is only awaiting regulatory approval.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) needs to grant SpaceX a spaceflight license but there is no exact date yet. According to the FAA Operations Planning Advisory, the flight could take place no earlier than April 17, although previously, the flight was expected from April 10. If the test does not take place on April 17, there are backup launch dates. At the moment, it is April 18, 19, 20, and 21. It is worth noting that these dates are also not final and may change depending on when the space flight permit is issued.
When launching Starship SN24 with Super Heavy Booster 7, the vehicle will fly east from Texas across the Gulf of Mexico. The Starship will then separate from the Super Heavy Booster and continue into Earth orbit. After orbiting Earth, the Starship is to make a controlled entry into the Pacific Ocean, north of the Hawaiian Islands, and land at sea. During the first flight, the launch vehicle will not land on the ground. In the future, the Super Heavy Booster should return to the landing platform, like the first stages of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets.
In February, the Super Heavy Booster and its 33 engines underwent a serious burn test. 31 out of 33 engines burned according to plan. According to the company, SpaceX technicians were able to gather enough data to venture into a real launch attempt.
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