SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter today that the company plans to conduct a second orbital test flight of the Starship rocket in six to eight weeks (between late July and mid-August).
SpaceX is developing a giant rocket capable of sending humans to Mars, and SpaceX recently began testing a full-size prototype of the rocket that stands nearly 400 feet tall (about 122 meters.) SpaceX’s immediate goal is to get the Starship into full Earth orbit before trying to launch it to destinations like the moon.
SpaceX conducted the first orbital test flight of the Starship from its Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 20 of this year. The giant rocket successfully lifted off and flew to an altitude of about 20 miles (about 32 kilometers), but then exploded. The launch caused damage to the rocket’s launch pad and sent debris and dust from the explosion miles away, prompting an “accident investigation” by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Musk deemed the first orbital test flight of the Starship a success and said the SpaceX team “learned a lot from it” and is “ready for the next test flight in a few months. In May, SpaceX filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch a prototype Starship from Boca Chica into Earth orbit within six months, from June 15 to December 15. SpaceX needs a “temporary special authorization” from the FCC and a rocket launch license from the FAA to launch the prototype Starship.
