Status: 04/17/2023 3:50 p.m
It is the world’s largest rocket to date: US billionaire Elon Musk’s “Starship” is intended to make transport into space cheaper. But the first test flight had to be postponed due to technical problems.
The first test flight of the “Starship” rocket of the private space company SpaceX by tech billionaire Elon Musk had to be canceled at the last minute. There was a technical problem shortly before the start, the group announced during the live broadcast scheduled for the start.
Musk himself wrote on Twitter that a pressure valve had apparently frozen. According to SpaceX, there will be a new launch attempt on Wednesday at the earliest.
Actually, the 120 meter high heavy-duty rocket was supposed to take off from the company’s own Starbase spaceport in Boca Chica in the US state of Texas in the afternoon Central European Time. The “Starship” is considered the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. It is planned that it will fly for about 90 minutes after take-off.
Both rocket stages in use for the first time
In the future, the rocket system should be able to transport well over 100 tons of cargo. The new rocket from SpaceX consists of two stages: the “Super Heavy” propulsion stage with 33 engines and the upper stage, the actual “Starship”, with a further six engines. It doubles as a spaceship for cargo and passengers. The “Starship” is designed in such a way that the spaceship and rocket can be reused after landing on earth.
During the test flight into earth orbit, both rocket stages will be used together for the first time. The first rocket stage should separate from the spacecraft just under three minutes after launch and then sink into the sea. The second stage is to continue its flight, orbit the earth once and then land in the sea off Hawaii.
Plans for flights to the Moon and Mars
There have always been setbacks in tests in the past, and prototypes of the rocket have exploded several times. Almost all engines of the first “Starship” stage were successfully ignited for the first time in February.
Great hopes are attached to the giant rocket. The US space agency NASA wants to use it to bring astronauts back to the moon. She has also commissioned the private company to develop a commercial lunar lander. This is to bring astronauts to the moon. The order is valued at $2.89 billion.
The moon mission is considered a springboard for a first manned flight to Mars. The United States is the only country to date to have brought twelve astronauts to Earth with the Apollo missions.
Musk wants to keep space travel costs down
But Elon Musk also has a declared economic goal: Above all, transport should become cheaper. Because unlike the test flight, both rocket stages should return to the launch pad in the future. If successful, “Starship” would be SpaceX’s first rocket that could be fully reused. Thus, rocket launches could become even cheaper.
Musk hopes this spacecraft could cost less than $10 million to orbit in the future. For the launch of SpaceX’s “Falcon 9” rocket, customers are currently paying around 67 million dollars for a launch. Musk’s private space company is already a leader among commercial providers.
SpaceX is worth an estimated $137 billion
Musk, who helped found payment service provider PayPal and is CEO of electric car maker Tesla, founded SpaceX in 2002. The space company was founded with the aim of making space travel cheaper.
SpaceX is among the largest unlisted companies in the world. The space company is worth an estimated $137 billion.