According to Elon Musk, a billionaire at SpaceX, the company plans to launch its Starship rocket into orbit from Boca Chica in Texas next January.
Musk, speaking during an online meeting on Wednesday held by the US government’s National Academies, revealed he’s ‘comfortable’ with the ambitious timeframe, but he’s not betting on success for that first test flight.
NASA has selected SpaceX’s bullet-shaped, futuristic Starship made of stainless steel for its Artemis mission to the Moon in the latter part of this decade.
SpaceX plans to transport humans via a spacecraft with two stages. It will be composed of Starship, the passenger-carrying section and the Super Heavy rocket booster.
The firm still has work to do on construction of the $216 million Starship, previously known as ‘BFR’, although it has been testing out launching Starship prototypes into the air and landing them – most recently SN15 in May.
SpaceX had been sending several Starship prototypes into space, but this January’s launch will put them into orbit. Here are the Starship prototypes SN15 & SN16 (right), near Boca Chica Texas’s build site in October 2021. SpaceX launched and landed SN15 on May 5, 2021; SN16 has yet to be launched.
Musk stated earlier in the week that Starship’s initial flight to orbit would be within three months of 2022. However, he reduced this number to January during Wednesday’s discussion.
Musk spoke towards the close of the online session in the talk entitled ‘SpaceX Starship Discussion.
He said the first orbital launch of Starship – which he called a ‘very profound vehicle’ that’s making ‘very rapid’ progress – would ‘hopefully’ happen in January ‘or perhaps February’ 2022 and could be followed by 12 or more launches throughout the rest of next year.
‘We’re close to our initial orbital launch,’ he said. “The January 1st orbital flight is what we hope to accomplish.
Musk explained that the launch of this initial rocket is fraught with risk. Although I don’t think it will be successful, I do believe that we will see significant improvements.
Musk believes Starship will reach orbit in 2022, even if it is unsuccessful during its January orbit launch.
‘I don’t know if we’ll get there on the first attempt but I’m comfortable we’ll get there next year,’ he said.
Elon Musk (pictured) spoke during an internet meeting organized by the US government’s National Academies
SpaceX will launch valuable satellites, payloads, and test launches next year after a few dozen orbital flights, said he.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which oversees a review of company’s environmental impacts, is one potential obstacle.
Musk stated that the FAA would be completed by the close of the year after its review. This will allow for a launch either in January or February.
Musk stated that the firm also has a “factory to make a lot more of these cars”.
“This isn’t a matter of one or two. We’re trying to do a lot.” [Starships]”Yes, I do,” he said to National Academies members. “Ultimately, for multiplanetary life, maybe one thousand ships will be needed,” he said.
Musk thinks a natural or manmade disaster will eventually bring about the end of civilization, necessitating the relocation to another planet – Mars ‘being the only realistic option’, he said.
It could lead to a pandemic even worse than Covid-19. This could also result in decreasing birth rates and nuclear Armageddon.
A SpaceX Starship illustration showing the human lander design for the SpaceX Starship. This will be used to transport first NASA astronauts to lunar surface in the Artemis program.
It is vital to get people from Mars and other places as soon as possible, he stated, “for the preservation of light consciousness”.
He said that SpaceX was founded with the overarching goal to develop space technology to allow humanity to become a multiplanet species and eventually, to be a spacefaring society.
“I believe this is extremely important to the preservation of light consciousness over time.”
NASA contracted with SpaceX to use Starship for delivering astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2025 – to the chagrin of space rival Jeff Bezos, owner of rival firm Blue Origin, who is bringing forward legal action against NASA.
NASA has originally planned that the Artemis mission would return human beings to the moon in 2025. But, NASA is now aiming to do it in 2025.
One of the reasons for the delay – as announced by NASA earlier in November – is due to Bezos’ litigation.
Musk said that the liftoff thrust of NASA’s Saturn V rockets, which carried astronauts to orbit around the moon half a century ago will exceed that of theirs.
Musk intends to make use of the reusable vessels to land humans on Mars.
Musk also believes the Starship rocket, once built, could be used for travel on Earth – saying that passengers would be able to get anywhere in under an hour.
His research paper – entitled ‘Making Humans a Multi-Planetary Species’ and published in New Space in 2017 – outlines his company’s vision.
History shows that eventually, some sort of doomsday event will occur. [on Earth]Musk said in the paper, “Yes,”
“The Alternative is to Be a Space-Bearing Civilization and Multi-Planetary Species. This is what I believe you will agree with.
NASA will be the first to land a woman and a man on the moon by 2024 in the Artemis mission
Artemis was Apollo’s twin sister and the goddess of the moon, according to Greek mythology.
NASA has chosen her to personify its path back to the moon, which will see astronauts return to the lunar surface by 2024 – including the first woman and the next man.
Artemis 1 (formerly Exploration Mission-1) is the first mission in a series to enable humans exploration of Mars and the moon.
Artemis 1 will be the first integrated flight test of NASA’s deep space exploration system: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Artemis 1 is an uncrewed space flight. It will serve as a base for deep space exploration by humans, and will demonstrate our ability to expand human life to the moon.
The spacecraft will fly further than any human-made spacecraft ever.
In three weeks, it will cover 280,000 km (450,600km) distance from Earth. This is thousands of miles more than what the moon can offer.
Artemis 1 (formerly Exploration Mission-1) is one of several increasingly complicated missions that will permit human exploration to Mars and the moon. The mission’s stages are explained in this graphic
Orion will be in space for longer periods than any spacecraft designed for astronauts. It will also return to Earth faster and more hotter than before.
NASA’s first space exploration mission is a major step in human exploration deep into space. NASA astronauts will begin building and testing systems close to the moon for exploration of other planets farther away from Earth.
The will take crew on a different trajectory and test Orion’s critical systems with humans aboard.
Orion, SLS, and Kennedy’s ground systems will all be capable of meeting the most difficult crew or cargo missions in deep space.
NASA plans to eventually establish a human presence sustainable on the moon in 2028 through the Artemis mission.
Space agency hopes that this colony will make scientific breakthroughs, show technological improvements and provide the basis for private businesses to create a lunar economy.