class=”sc-3778e872-0 cKDKQr”>
The American aerospace company SpaceX plans for Monday a test flight of the most powerful giant rocket ever built, the Starship. “Success perhaps, excitement guaranteed,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk wrote Friday evening (local time) on the online service Twitter. Launch is scheduled for 7 a.m. (2 p.m. EDT) from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas.
The US space agency NASA currently plans to use Starship as a landing module as part of its Artemis program no earlier than 2025. With a height of 119 meters, 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.
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 subsequently stated that the 31 engines fired during the test were “enough to achieve orbit”.
50 percent chance of falling
The gigantic, fully recyclable spaceship with 33 engines should be able to carry up to 100 people and one day take people to the moon, Mars and other celestial bodies.
In an interview on March 7, Musk said there is a 1 in 2 chance the rocket will not reach orbit. “I’m not saying it will reach orbit, but I guarantee excitement. It won’t be boring.”
The rocket, he says, “hopefully has a 50 percent chance of getting into orbit.” Musk says SpaceX is building several Starship rockets, so there’s an 80 percent chance one of them will reach orbit this year. (kes/AFP)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
