SpaceX has released a video visualizing its plans to explore the Red Planet. A new Starship spacecraft will be used for this.
Martian Starship Mission
Starship will be the first ever fully reusable space system. It will be able to launch a record 150 tons of cargo into Earth orbit. SpaceX plans to create several modifications of the spacecraft, one of which will be used as an interplanetary flight.
The SpaceX video gives an idea of the main stages of the Martian Starship missions. It all starts with the takeoff of the spacecraft from the territory of the Starbase spaceport in Texas. Next, we see the return of the Super Heavy accelerator. SpaceX plans to use a 140-meter tower with a rotating structure called Mechazilla to “catch” it.
The next important stage unfolds in near-Earth orbit. Starship docks with another spacecraft, which is used as a tanker. After refueling is completed, it leaves the vicinity of Earth and embarks on a journey to the Red Planet. In the final shots, we see a Martian colony and a number of Starships preparing to land.
When will the first Starship flight take place
At the moment, SpaceX engineers have fully completed the preparation of Starship for the first orbital flight. The company lacks only the permission of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). According to Elon Musk, he expects that the Starship flight will take place sometime in the second half of April.
Starship launch trending towards near the end of third week of April
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 10, 2023
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