Science.-Space X plans to launch the first Starship in March

MADRID, 6 (EUROPA PRESS)

“If the remaining tests go well, we will attempt a Starship launch next month,” Musk said on his Twitter account on February 4.

Starship successfully completed its first pre-launch dress rehearsal on January 23 at the company’s base in Boca Chica, Texas.

This was the first time the integrated craft and booster, which together measure 120 meters, had been fully loaded with more than 4,535 tons of propellant fuel. The test helped verify the complete countdown-to-launch sequence, as well as the performance of the Starship and the orbital platform for flight-like operations. SpaceX has yet to disassemble the starship to test the simultaneous firing of Booster 7’s 33 Raptor engines, something that has never been achieved before.

The Starship vehicle preparing to launch into space consists of a Super Heavy prototype called Booster 7 and the Ship 24 upper stage variant.

On its first flight into space, the spacecraft is scheduled to fly around Earth once, with a splashdown target in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.

SpaceX is developing the Starship to carry people and cargo to the Moon, Mars and beyond. NASA selected the rover to be the first crewed lunar lander in its Artemis program, and Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa booked a flight around the Moon in the rover for himself and a handful of artists and influencers.