SpaceX today passed a first flight test of its Starship SN5 prototype rocket.
This type of rocket will be used to transport up to 100 persons both towards the planet Mars.
Looking like a big silo silo, Starship SN5 is a preview version of the future spacecraft. The next version, SN6 is expected to take a more conventional rocket shape.
SN5 pic.twitter.com/GlZ28KFVHU
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2020
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The prototype tested today at Boca Chica, Texas, was in fact only a gigantic tank installed on a new engine called Raptor. The experimental vessel took off, climbed to an altitude of 150 meters, and returned to land safely on earth.
The final production rocket will have a height of 120 meters (290 feet) and will have three Raptor engines. According to SpaceX, the rocket will then be able to spin at 25 000 km / h towards Mars.
Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, mentioned that his company will build a fleet of 1000 Starships in the Next 10 years, the most powerful rocket ever made by the aerospace company. Ultimately, the businessman wants SpaceX to be able to send 1,000 Starships per year to the Red Planet.
Starship takes flight pic.twitter.com/IWvwcA05hl
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 5, 2020
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If such predictions turn out, SpaceX might be able to transport over a decade a million people on Mars at the turn of the years 2050.
New SpaceX hit comes hours after US astronauts return to Earth Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. The two men had been sent to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a brand new rocket called Dragon.
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