SpaceX’s Elon Musk said Thursday that the first orbital flight of his towering Starship — the world's most powerful rocket ever built — could come in another month or two.
While he anticipates failures, he’s confident Starship will reach orbit by the end of this year.
Musk provided his first major Starship update in more than two years while standing alongside the 390-foot (119-meter) rocket at SpaceX's Texas spaceport. He urged the nighttime crowd, “Let’s make this real!”
“This is really some wild stuff here,” he said. “In fact, hard to believe it's real.”
NASA plans to use the fully reusable Starship to land astronauts on the moon as early as 2025. Musk, meanwhile, hopes to deploy a fleet of Starships to create a city on Mars, hauling equipment and people there.
For now, the initial flights would carry Musk's internet satellites, called Starlinks, into orbit.
“There will probably be a few bumps in the road, but we want to iron those out with satellite missions and test missions” before putting people on board, he said.
SpaceX's Super Heavy first-stage booster has yet to blast off. But the futuristic, bullet-shaped, steel Starship — perched on top and serving as the upper stage — successfully launched and landed on its own last May, following a series of spectacular explosions. The rocketship soared more than 6 miles (10 kilometers).
SpaceX is awaiting approval from the Federal Aviation Administration before proceeding with Starship's next phase: going into orbit. Musk said he expects the go-ahead in March and that the rocket should be ready to fly by then as well. That would put the launch in the next couple of months, he added.
If the FAA demands more information about potential environmental impacts or lawsuits emerge, Musk said Starship launches could move to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. But that would delay the first orbital launch by more than half a year, he noted.
The full-size Starships are massive — taller than NASA's past and present moon rockets, with approximately double the liftoff thrust.
Besides Florida's Cape Canaveral and the southern tip of Texas near Boca Chica, Starships could ultimately launch from floating ocean platforms anywhere in the world, Musk said. He envisions Starships launching three times a day — “rapid reusability" — with refilling stations in space for the longer destinations like Mars. The first refilling test could happen by the end of next year, he said.
Musk estimates a Starship launch could wind up costing less than $10 million — maybe even just a few million dollars with a high flight rate, which would bring down prices. He called it “crazy low” and “ridiculously good” by current space standards.
Starship already has one private customer: a Japanese entrepreneur who has bought a flight around the moon and plans to take a dozen artists with him. Musk hinted there are others interested in buying trips, saying future announcements would be forthcoming.
Until now, SpaceX has relied on its much smaller Falcon rockets to launch satellites, as well as astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station for NASA. Its first private flight, purchased by a billionaire, was last September. Another is coming up at the end of March, this one to the space station with three businessmen who are paying $55 million apiece.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
'Unicorn Hunters' gives business owners the potential of reaching a billion-dollar valuation, but before they can get the capital they have to impress the 'Circle of Money.' Rosie Rios, former U.S. Treasurer and co-host of 'Unicorn Hunters,' joins Cheddar News to talk more about the show.
Stocks closed lower Thursday, with the Nasdaq falling close to 2.5% for its worst day since September. Tech stocks dragged on the index, which is down nearly 3% for the week. Investors are continuing to respond to the Federal Reserve's taper timeline and interest rate announcement, as well as keeping an eye on the COVID-19 omicron variant as cases spike in major metropolitan areas like New York. David Sadkin, president and partner at Bel Air Investment Advisors, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
There's a new ETF designed to offer investors exposure to 'meme stocks.' Roundhill Investments launched it earlier this month and says the ETF is the first that is explicitly designed to track the performance of meme stocks. Roundhill Investments Vice President of Research Mario Stefanidis joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Jared Madfes, Partner at Tribe Capital, joins Cheddar's Closing Bell, where he says crypto investors should continue to focus on the long-term despite the recent price boost in the hours following Wednesday's Fed decision.
Mobile bill payment application Papaya recently raised $50 million in a series B round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
Papaya lets users take a photo of any bill, and the app's AI-powered 'bill understanding technology' pays the bill in seconds. The company says its goal is to help people spend more time on things that matter, by making bill-paying as painless and quick as possible. Papaya CEO and co-founder Patrick Kann joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Markets jumped on the Federal Reserve's announcement it would speed up its tapering timeline and institute three rate hikes in 2022 — but that was before the COVID-19 omicron variant seemed to be a threat. This announcement also comes as it took the central bank a number of weeks to recognize that inflation does not seem to be transitory as consumers feel price pressure across the board. Bill Adams, senior economist at PNC, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the Fed's moves, how the ongoing pandemic could continue to impact the economy, the Fed's dual mandate, and more.
Delta Air Lines CFO Dan Janki joined Cheddar's Kristen Scholer to talk about the airline's 2022 outlook on its Capital Markets Day as the travel industry recovers from pandemic disruptions. The airline projects a return to profitability next year despite the emergence of the omicron variant during the peak holiday season. Janki said that there had been no impact on domestic travel as of yet, but the company is remaining vigilant for any change. He did note that there had been some international fallout as countries implemented travel restrictions.
Tom Shannon, Bowlero CEO, joined Cheddar to discuss the decision to bring the company to the New York Stock Exchange via a SPAC merger with Isos Acquisition Corporation. Shannon said one of the goals of the public offering is to expand operations internationally, noting that Bowlero has the potential to reach worldwide markets due to the sport's popularity. "Bowling is a global market, and I'll give you an example. In South Korea, there are three million league bowlers and 1,200 bowling centers in South Korea alone," he said.
If you're looking for a date, 2022 might be your year. Online dating platform Bumble is buzzing with dating predictions from its latest survey. Shan Boodram, sex and relationships expert at Bumble, joined Cheddar to discuss some of the findings and what people can expect from the future dating landscape. Some of the results showed that public displays of affection are back on the rise as more people get vaccinated and that more users are opting for alcohol-free first dates. She also explained the trend of "explori-dating," a way that users are attempting to get out of their comfort zone. "People are willing to date outside of their city to get to that," she said.
