In fact, the giant rocket Starship should be ready for its first flight into orbit in July. During engine testing, however, there were setbacks.
An explosion occurred on Monday (local time) during a test of an engine for Starship, the giant rocket of US space company SpaceX. Prototype 7 of the rocket booster Super Heavy was apparently only damaged, not destroyed. SpaceX boss Elon Musk admitted on Twitter that the accident during engine testing was not good and that the team was analyzing the damage. The explosion can be seen in a live broadcast on the US portal NASA Spaceflight, which is suitable for around midnight daylight saving time in Central Europe. There have been no reports of injuries so far, US news agency Reuters wrote. It's unclear what consequences the accident will have on the ambitious Starship program. So far, SpaceX and the FAA have not commented.
The consequences are unclear
With the so-called Starship, SpaceX is currently working on the world's largest rocket, with Elon Musk only showing off the first prototype in September 2019. The giant rocket consists of an actual Starship, a spaceship as an upper stage, and a booster called Super. Heavy. The pace of development so far has been tremendous. The
prototype has undergone many test flights, one of which landed safely after climbing 10 kilometers a year ago. In August, SpaceX assembled Starship for the first time. After a long wait, FAA SpaceX has set the specs for Starship’s first orbital flight in mid-June. The company hopes to have the first ready for launch in July and the second as early as August. This was likely to be delayed after the accident.
Elon Musk has big plans for Starship. In the not-too-distant future, the rocket should be able to launch 150 tons into space and be reused quickly, flying up to three times a day. As recently as February of this year, Musk announced that 10 of these giant rockets would soon carry 1 million tons of cargo into space per year and sustain a city on Mars.
While it may be a while before then, for SpaceX, the rocket must be operational as soon as possible. The U.S. aerospace company is relying on its own giant rocket to take off to launch its next-generation Starlink satellite into space. To do this, the rocket engine must be produced much faster than before.
