SpaceX has been testing its Starship spacecraft prototypes for some time now. Currently, the tests are limited to a jump to a height of about 10 kilometers, which is followed by a controlled fall and landing. It was only successful with the SN15 test, which should repeat its flight, without an explosion. Since Starship is set to fly to Mars one day, prototype testing will understandably not end with mere jumps. Of course, an orbital test is also planned, the form of which was revealed in a document that SpaceX sent to the Federal Communications Commission.
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The launch is expected to take place in Boca Chica, with the help of a Super Heavy booster, which is expected to separate about three minutes after liftoff and land in the Gulf of Mexico about 5 minutes later. In the meantime, Starship will continue, orbiting almost the entire Earth and re-entering the atmosphere over Hawaii about 90 minutes after launch. The ship is expected to land on a platform about 62 miles northwest of the coast of Kauai. However, the platform is only an assumption, as the documents only talk about a “landing at sea”. As for the flight itself, Starship is not expected to exceed 116 kilometers (72 miles) above the ground during its flight. Elon Musk He previously said that this test could happen at the end of this year. However, the documents talk about the first two months of next year. So we'll see when we get there. Hopefully the test goes well.
the wings look like they're just covered with some aluminum foil.. pretty rough..
If the author had at least read the analysis and comments of Czech colleagues who are really interested in SpaceX, they would know that this flight is utopianly planned foroneJune, of course it's not realistic, but there's definitely nothing in the "documents" about the beginning of next year. The scribe here made that up or wrote it down incorrectly when he was describing when the plan was and when it was reality.
I read it somewhere as an idea that the flight should take place at the end of this year.
The shuttles were truly a work of art. The Saturn V was beautiful and imposing. Even the Soyuz has its charm. But this is just a flying boiler. I understand that design isn't the most important thing in a space rocket, but Musk's creations are downright disgusting.