SpaceX's Elon Musk said Thursday that the first orbital flight of his
towering Starship—the world's most powerful rocket ever built—could come in
another month or two.
While he anticipates failures, he's confident Starship will reach orbit by
the end of this year.
Musk provided his first major Starship update in more than two years while
standing alongside the 390-foot (119-meter) rocket at SpaceX's Texas
spaceport. He urged the nighttime crowd, "Let's make this real!"
"This is really some wild stuff here," he said. "In fact, hard to believe
it's real."
NASA plans to use the fully reusable Starship to land astronauts on the moon
as early as 2025. Musk, meanwhile, hopes to deploy a fleet of Starships to
create a city on Mars, hauling equipment and people there.
For now, the initial flights would carry Musk's internet satellites, called
Starlinks, into orbit.
"There will probably be a few bumps in the road, but we want to iron those
out with satellite missions and test missions" before putting people on
board, he said.
SpaceX's Super Heavy first-stage booster has yet to blast off. But the
futuristic, bullet-shaped, steel Starship—perched on top and serving as the
upper stage—successfully launched and landed on its own last May, following
a series of spectacular explosions. The rocketship soared more than 6 miles
(10 kilometers).
SpaceX is awaiting approval from the Federal Aviation Administration before
proceeding with Starship's next phase: going into orbit. Musk said he
expects the go-ahead in March and that the rocket should be ready to fly by
then as well. That would put the launch in the next couple of months, he
added.
If the FAA demands more information about potential environmental impacts or
lawsuits emerge, Musk said Starship launches could move to NASA's Kennedy
Space Center in Florida. But that would delay the first orbital launch by
more than half a year, he noted.
The full-size Starships are massive—taller than NASA's past and present moon
rockets, with approximately double the liftoff thrust.
Besides Florida's Cape Canaveral and the southern tip of Texas near Boca
Chica, Starships could ultimately launch from floating ocean platforms
anywhere in the world, Musk said. He envisions Starships launching three
times a day—"rapid reusability"—with refilling stations in space for the
longer destinations like Mars. The first refilling test could happen by the
end of next year, he said.
Musk estimates a Starship launch could wind up costing less than $10
million—maybe even just a few million dollars with a high flight rate, which
would bring down prices. He called it "crazy low" and "ridiculously good" by
current space standards.
Starship already has one private customer: a Japanese entrepreneur who has
bought a flight around the moon and plans to take a dozen artists with him.
Musk hinted there are others interested in buying trips, saying future
announcements would be forthcoming.
Until now, SpaceX has relied on its much smaller Falcon rockets to launch
satellites, as well as astronauts and cargo to the International Space
Station for NASA. Its first private flight, purchased by a billionaire, was
last September. Another is coming up at the end of March, this one to the
space station with three businessmen who are paying $55 million apiece.