SpaceX Starship Prototype Could Soon Launch to Mars
Elon Musk is famous for many things, including the technology giants Tesla Inc. and SpaceX. We may now see the next biggest step that the aerospace company has ever taken.
There was a report that the firm’s path to the planet Mars could finally be just days away from commencing.
The Federal Aviation Administration recently issued an Airspace closure, which indicated news about the company. Reports say that Elon Musk’s firm is getting the recent iteration of the Starship developmental craft by Sunday or Monday.
Of course, the first flight isn’t expected to go to the planet Mars already. The aerospace firm’s first flight for its SN5 is a 150-meter “hop”.
Technology news reports recalled SpaceX’s “Starhopper” earlier last year. The ship had a successful performance in its highly anticipated test flight at that time.
The SN5 is bigger and its design allows it to have orbital flights.
Before the ship could take off, its crew must first finish a static fire test for the vessel’s raptor engine. The test will run in the company’s development facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
A live stream of the facility showed them filling the SN5’s fuel tank in preparation. However, the launch wasn’t successful when the team saw a small boat in the exclusion zone.
The situation forced the team to postpone the test back on the day.
Last week, Elon Musk said that that SN5 will finally fly this week. However, Hurricane Hanna also interrupted that.
The bad weather pushed the company to batten down the hatches at its Boca Chica facilities.
If we recall SpaceX’s history, the SN4 exploded during a static fire test. Meanwhile, the SN3 and SN1 were crumpled on a pressure test.
Amazon on Space
Jeff Bezos’ online retailing giant is taking on Elon Musk’s aerospace firm. Amazon announced that it’s investing over $10 billion to establish a network of more than 3,200 satellites.
The plan is to provide high-speed broadband internet services to communities worldwide, which lack resources. Of course, modern technology may have accelerated in some markets, but more places in the globe still lack access to it.
Amazon’s plan comes after the approval of the Federal Communications Commission’s “Project Kuiper” for low-Earth orbit satellites.
Project Kuiper will be completed with SpaceX’s very own Starlink network.
Elon Musk’s company has launched more than 500 satellites of the 12,000 expected for its Starlink network project. The firm plans to provide broadband services in the United States and Canada before the year ends.
The grand plan will also cost roughly $10 billion.
