SpaceX aims in early December to launch its Starship missile system into orbit for the first time, a crucial demonstration flight as the company aims to bring NASA astronauts to the moon in the next few years, a US official said on Monday (31). .
For years, SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has been trying to send it state-of-the-art missile system in orbit from the company’s private launch pads in Texas, from where it only launched prototypes of the spacecraft’s upper half at about 10km high to demonstrate landing attempts.
The December mission will test the entire system for the first time, involving the company’s 70-meter Super Heavy rocket to put the 50-meter Starship spacecraft into orbit.
“We anticipate four major flights of the spacecraft. The first will take place in December,” said Mark Kirasich, a NASA official who oversees development of the agency’s Artemis lunar program, at a NASA advisory board meeting via live stream.
Further ground tests with the rocket and regulatory reviews could delay the first orbital mission beyond December. The US Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees the safety of the commercial launch site, has not yet given the green light for the mission to SpaceX, part of the growing universe of Musk’s Companieswhich also includes Tesla and Twitter.
NASA chose the SpaceX spaceship landing humans on the moon around 2025 for the first time since 1972. That mission, with a contract worth about $ 3 billion, requires more space flight tests upfront that could delay the landing mission.
Copyright © Thomson Reuters.
