SpaceX could fly Starship as many as nine times this year
作者:探索 来源:休闲 浏览: 【大 中 小】 发布时间:2024-04-19 23:18:54 评论数:
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SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket may not have reached orbit yet, but Elon Musk’s space firm is aiming to speed up the rocket’s development with a view to taking it to the Moon and Mars.
According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Starship could fly again within the next three weeks. The company employs an iterative design approach that sees it carry out quick back-to-back launches that allow it to quickly learn from its previous explosive failures.
Now, according to a new report from Ars Technica, SpaceX is pressing regulators to allow it to launch at an even faster pace. If it gets its way, Starship could fly up to nine times in 2024.
SpaceX aims for “aggressive launch schedule”
Speaking during a press availability, Kelvin Coleman, the administrator for Commercial Space Transportation at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said the government agency is collaborating with SpaceX on its plans to speed up the development of Starship.
SpaceX does, of course, have a $2.9 billion contract to fulfill for NASA by developing a modified Starship lunar lander that can carry humans to the Moon’s surface.
In fact, earlier this year, NASA announced it was delaying the Artemis III lunar landing mission to 2026, citing technical challenges. NASA officials had also previously voiced concerns over SpaceX’s Starship development timeline.
“They’re looking at a pretty aggressive launch schedule this year,” Coleman explained. “They’re looking at, I believe, at least nine launches this year. That’s a lot of launches. If you’re doing modifications and doing them one by one, that’s a lot of work.”
“We’ve been talking to SpaceX constantly around the clock, coming together and trying to figure out how do we do this,” he continued. “We’re invested with the company, and so we’ll work with them to get them back going as soon as they can.”
SpaceX’s current agreement with the FAA allows it to launch Starship up to five times annually, meaning it is seeking an amendment to the current rules.
SpaceX to fly again within 3 weeks?
Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. During its first two orbital flight attempts, it produced roughly 17 million lbs of thrust at launch thanks to the 33 Raptor Engines attached to the Super Heavy’s first stage.
The first launch of Starship in April last year ended with an explosion shortly after launch. The second attempt in November of the same year flew higher and performed a successful hot-staging separation. However, the Starship’s upper stage exploded before it could reach orbit.
Musk recently took to social media platform X to announce that Starship could fly again by early to mid-March for the third launch attempt of Starship. Stay posted for more updates in the lead-up to the third launch of Starship.