SpaceX plans test launch and test flight of giant Starship rocket

The American aerospace company SpaceX is planning next week a test launch of the most powerful giant rocket ever built, the Starship. The rocket’s first test flight could potentially take place next week, SpaceX announced Thursday (local time) in Texas.

“The team is working towards a test launch (…) next week, followed by the first (…) test flight a week later,” the company said on Twitter, publishing photos of the rocket, subject to necessary approval. . SpaceX still needs the green light from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for a test flight.

In February, nearly all of the Starship rocket’s first stage engines were successfully ignited during a test at the Boca Chica missile base. SpaceX founder Elon Musk then stated that the 31 engines fired during the test were “enough to achieve orbit.”

The US space agency NASA currently plans to use Starship as a landing module as part of its Artemis program no earlier than 2025. The Starship rocket is significantly larger and more powerful than the NASA rocket SLS, with which the space agency wants to put astronauts in orbit around the moon from 2024. (sda/afp)