SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk attends a post-launch news conference to discuss the SpaceX Crew Dragon astronaut capsule abort test at Kennedy Space Center in-flight at SpaceX.
- SpaceX founder Elon Musk said on Saturday that the first stack of the starship rocket will be ready for flight in the coming weeks, taking the unorthodox billionaire a step closer to his dream of orbital and then interplanetary travel.
SpaceX successfully landed its first prototype rocket, SN 15 in May, a large-lift launch vehicle that could eventually carry astronauts and reusable cargo payloads to Mars and the moon.
The touchdown occurred after four prototype landing attempts had ended in explosions.
The first orbital stack of Starship should be ready in a few weeks, pending only regulatory approval, Musk tweeted https: twitter.com Elon Musk status 142671523247553319.
The next-generation rocket, SpaceX's complete launch vehicle, stands 394 feet tall when combined with its super heavy first-stage booster.
It is at the heart of the Tesla Inc. CEO's goal to make human space travel more affordable and routine.
An orbital Starship flight is planned for the year's end, and Musk has said he intends to fly Japan's billionaire entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa around the moon in the Starship in 2023.