Elon Musk sets low expectations before first SpaceX launch of Starship, most powerful rocket ever built.
Just a few months after NASA introduced the world to the most powerful rocket ever flown to orbit,ย Elon Muskโs SpaceXย is prepared to set off its own creation โ which could pack nearly twice the power of anything flown before.
SpaceXโs vehicle, called Starship, is currently sitting on a launch pad at the companyโs facilities on the southern Texas coastline. The company is targeting liftoff at 8 a.m. CT (9 a.m. ET) on Monday, although it has the ability to take off anytime between 8 a.m. CT (9 a.m. ET) and 9:30 a.m. CT (10:30 a.m. ET).
โI guess Iโd like to just set expectations low,โ SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said during a Twitter โSpacesโ event for his subscribers Sunday evening. โIf we get far enough away from launch pad before something goes wrong, then I think I would consider that to be a success. Just donโt blow up the pad.โ
He added: โThereโs a good chance that it gets postponed since weโre going to be pretty careful about this launch.โ
SpaceX has a livestream of the Starship launch here.
Folks on the ground near SpaceXโs facilities in South Texas can certainly catch an in-person glimpse. Locals are known to line the surrounding beaches in South Padre Island to watch tests, and this launch is sure to draw spectators.
SpaceX has repeatedly warned those in the area, however, to stay away from the โKeepout Zoneโ โ the areas directly surrounding the launch site that have been deemed too close to the rocket to be safe during lift off.
The โKeepout Zoneโ includes the coastline south of South Padre Island and stretches a few miles inland.
About this mission
This will mark SpaceXโs first attempt to launch a fully assembled Starship vehicle, building on a years-long testing campaign.
Musk has talked about Starship โ making elaborate presentations about its design and purpose โ for half a decade, and he frequently harps on its potential for carrying cargo and humans to Mars. Musk has even said that his sole purpose for founding SpaceX was to develop a vehicle like Starship that could establish a human settlement on Mars.
Additionally, NASA has already awarded SpaceX contracts and options worth severalย billionsย of dollars to use Starship to ferry government astronauts to the surface of the moon under the space agencyโsย Artemis program.
The inaugural flight test will not complete a full orbit around Earth. If successful, however, it will travel about 150 miles above Earthโs surface, well into altitudes deemed to be outer space.
Starship consists of two parts: the Super Heavy booster, a gargantuan rocket that houses 33 engines, and the Starship spacecraft, which sits atop the booster during launch and is designed to break away after the booster expends its fuel to finish the mission.
The massive Super Heavy rocket booster will give the first blast of power at liftoff.
Less than three minutes after takeoff, itโs expected to expend its fuel and separate from the Starship spacecraft, leaving the booster to be discarded in the ocean. The Starship will use its own six engines, blazing for more than six minutes, to propel itself to nearly orbital speeds.
The vehicle will then complete a partial lap of the planet, reentering the Earthโs atmosphere near Hawaii. Itโs expected to splash down off the coast about an hour and a half after liftoff.
Whatโs riding on this launch
Starshipโs ultimate success or failure immensely consequential. Not only is it crucial to SpaceXโs future as a company โ it also underpins the United States governmentโs ambitions for human exploration.
But itโs not all riding on this inaugural test flight. SpaceX has long established its willingness to embrace mishaps, mistakes and explosions in the name of refining the design of its spacecraft.
In the lead-up to the first launch of the companyโs Falcon Heavy rocket in 2018, which held the title of most powerful rocket before NASAโs SLS took flight last year, Musk foresaw only a 50-50 chance of success.
โPeople (came) from all around the world to see what will either be a great rocket launch or the best fireworks display theyโve ever seen,โ Musk told CNN at the time.
The inaugural Falcon Heavy launch was ultimately successful.
Since then, SpaceX has also been working to get its Super Heavy booster prepared for flight. The massive, 230-foot-tall (69-meter-tall) cylinder is packed with 33 of the companyโs Raptor engines.
Fully stacked, Starship and Super Heavy stand about 400 feet (120 meters) tall.
SpaceX has been waiting more than a year to get FAA approval for this launch attempt.
The company, and federal regulators tasked with certifying SpaceX launches wonโt pose risks to people or property in the area surrounding the launch site, have faced significant pushback from the local community, including from environmental groups.
SpaceX’s Starship rocket, the most powerful ever built, receives government approval for launch
But the Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, announced Friday, April 14, that it granted the companyโs request for an uncrewed flight test of the rocket out of the SpaceX facilities in South Texas.
โAfter a comprehensive license evaluation process, the FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy, payload, airspace integration and financial responsibility requirements,โ the agency said in a statement.
During a call with reporters last week, an FAA official, who declined to be named for publication, said that the agency has been overseeing SpaceXโs compliance with the mitigating actions, some of which are still in the works, even as the company prepares for launch.
The FAA official said government personnel will be on the ground to ensure SpaceX complies with its license during the test launch.