08/16/2021 18:55
Clarín.com
Technology
Updated 08/16/2021 6:55 PM
Months ago, SpaceX managed to land its Starship SN15 safely.
In light of this success, company founder Elon Musk explained on Twitter that the rocket
is ready to fly in the absence of regulatory approval
from a unit of the ship.
In addition, he noted that
the Starship
is likely to
be ready to launch the human mission to the Moon "probably"
before the year 2024
.
In addition, he said that "the first orbital stack of the Starship rocket should be ready for flight within a few weeks."
The tycoon's company plans to carry out the first orbital launch test of its Starship spacecraft soon, with which in the future it
seeks to transport cargo and people to the Moon
, Mars and other space missions.
On May 5, SpaceX successfully tested a prototype Starship and the vehicle, the SN15, flew at an altitude of 10 kilometers before
completing a successful landing
, after four failed attempts since last December that ended in explosions.
First orbital stack of Starship should be ready for flight in a few weeks, pending only regulatory approval
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 15, 2021
The SpaceX Starship works in a very similar way to the Falcon 9. To
reuse part of the launch stage, it
is necessary for the engine to descend to Earth and, just before landing, turn on its engines so that it does not touch the surface of the plane. abrupt.
For some analysts, the launch of this ship
is even more risky than the Apollo program
, which had the commitment of the entire country and a budget of 152,000 million dollars compared to the 2,900 million of the Starship HLS program.
For this reason, Blue Origin called SpaceX's plan to transport astronauts on its Starship rocket
an "immensely complex and high-risk project
."
"There is an unprecedented amount of technologies, developments and operations that have never been done before for Starship to land on the Moon," argued Jeff Bezos' company.
An illustration shows Starship on the satellite.
Photo: AP
Blue Origin also makes other technical comparisons of its own manned lunar lander concept with SpaceX's, noting that Musk's company plan
requires more than 10 Starship launches
to land once on the Moon and needs to refuel in orbit. , a process that —he emphasizes— "has not been done before either."
Flight plan
The plan for the first orbital test flight calls for a new prototype Starship (probably the SN20) to
leave the atmosphere and re-enter
its first orbit and attempt a soft landing off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai, in the ocean. Peaceful.
Meanwhile, the Starship Super Heavy rocket will try to land in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Boca Chica.
The
flight
is expected to
last just over 90 minutes
.
Last week, SpaceX showed photos of its largest rocket,
the Starship Super Heavy
, fully assembled on the launch pad.
The successful launch of the Starship SN15 AFP Photo
SpaceX is looking for
the Starship to be completely reusable rockets
, which would significantly reduce their cost.
The Starship is designed as a large cargo ship, with the potential to carry people and everything necessary to go to the Moon or Mars.
In fact, SpaceX has a first flight with this spacecraft around the Moon scheduled for 2023.
The company intends to transport cargo and people to the Moon, Mars and other space missions.
Each ship will be able to carry loads of more than
100 tons and 100 passengers at a time
.
SL
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