SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Monday said that its Starship is gearing up for a third launch after the last one exploded upon reaching space. The CEO did not, however, provide a date.
What Happened: “Starship Flight 3 preparing for launch,” Musk wrote on X, formerly Twitter. The launch vehicle has wrapped launch rehearsal, complete with loading over 10 million pounds of propellant.
SpaceX has launched the Starship twice before. In the recent launch from November, the spacecraft managed to make it to space but exploded soon afterward. The company is reportedly eyeing launching Starship "at least" nine times this year.
"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. We're invested with the company, and so we'll work with them to get them back going as soon as they can," said administrator for Commercial Space Transportation at the Federal Aviation Administration Kelvin Coleman in February.
Musk then justified the targetted number of launches saying, "Building a city on Mars will take many launches."
Why It Matters: The rocket-making company touts the Starship as the world's most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, Moon, and Mars. It is also a key aspect of NASA’s Artemis mission aimed at taking humans back to the surface of the moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
Image created with artificial intelligence on MidJourney and Official SpaceX Photos on Flickr
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