If all goes according to plan, we won’t have to wait any longer to see the most powerful rocket in history take to the skies again.
That rocket, SpaceX’s 400-foot-tall Starship, has had four test flights so far. A fifth could be just around the corner, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk.
Musk said on Friday (July 5) that “there will be a fifth flight within four weeks.” Through XThe social media platform he owns.
Starship consists of two components: a first-stage booster known as the Super Heavy, and a 165-foot-tall upper stage spacecraft called Starship or simply Ship. Both are designed to be reusable.
Starship’s four test flights took place in April and November 2023, and on March 14 and June 6 of this year. All were launched from Starbase, SpaceX’s site in South Texas, near the city of Brownsville.
The vehicle has shown better performance with each successive flight. For example, the most recent launch went as planned. Super Heavy and Ship separated on time, returned to Earth as planned, and landed in the Gulf of Mexico and the Indian Ocean, respectively.
That success helps explain Flight 5’s relatively quick turnaround. Because Starship performed as expected on June 6, SpaceX has fewer issues to analyze ahead of its next launch. And the Federal Aviation Administration No accident investigation was requiredTherefore, technical readiness, rather than regulatory approval, will determine Flight 5’s key timeline.
If all goes according to plan, the fifth flight will feature an exciting new twist. SpaceX has said it plans to bring back the massive booster and land it precisely on Starbase’s launch pad, with the help of a “chopstick” arm on the facility’s launch tower.
Musk said this bold strategy will allow Starship to have longer flight cycles, allowing boosters to be inspected, repaired, and relaunched more quickly.
