Elon Musk says SpaceX Starship rocket could reach orbit within 6 months - CNET
www.cnet.com
By Jackson Ryan September 29, 2019 10:47 AM PDT "This is the most inspiring thing I've ever seen," Musk said, standing in front of the Starship Mk1 prototype space vehicle. This is the most epic thing I’ve ever seen in my life! #starship let’s do this @spacex @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/XGVSgPYeIs — Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) September 29, 2019 September 29, 2019 What's next for Starship? A prototype vehicle, dubbed Starhopper, has completed two low-altitude flights, or "hops," kitted out with a single Raptor engine. The next milestone is to get the triple-engine prototype Mk1 off the ground, to an altitude of about 12 miles (20 kilometers). A second prototype, Mk2, is being built at the SpaceX facility in Florida. Musk said an Mk3 prototype would begin construction at Boca Chica "in about a month" and could be complete in three months. "This is going to sound totally nuts, but we want to try and reach orbit in less than six months," he said. Of course, deadlines have slipped before. Musk believes if the current rate of production continues to proceed as quickly as it has been, the orbital vehicle could be a Mk4 or Mk5 prototype. "This is quite a new approach to controlling a rocket," Musk said. "Much more akin to a skydiver than a plane." Musk laughed as he showed the crowd in Boca Chica how the craft would control the fall, with his hands acting as the ship. Getting into the specifics a little more, Musk explained the importance of a steel heat shield that would only cost a fraction of a carbon fiber heat shield. "I'm in love with steel," Musk said. The steel Starship heat shield that will protect the spacecraft as it comes back to Earth. SpaceX Musk also detailed plans for Starship "orbital refilling," which would allow fuel to be transferred between spacecraft in orbit. Musk said this process is easier than docking with the International Space Station -- something SpaceX has become quite good at. "This is one of the other critical pieces of the puzzle to establish a base on the moon or Mars," Musk noted. Starship will use in-space propellant transfer to enable the delivery of over 100t of useful mass to the surface of the Moon or Mars pic.twitter.com/pzCUebidZg — SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 29, 2019 September 29, 2019 Starship might one day take humans out to Saturn. SpaceX "I think we should do our very best to become a multiplanet species and we should do it now." Other SpaceX projects In a post-conference Q&A session, Musk provided a brief response. "From a SpaceX resource standpoint, our resources are overwhelmingly on Falcon and Dragon," he said. "It was really quite a small percentage of SpaceX that did Starship." Musk didn't detail any progress updates to SpaceX's Commercial Crew project but noted difficulty in the optimization process. A recent explosion during testing of the Dragon crew capsule further delayed SpaceX's ambitions of taking astronauts to the ISS before the end of the year. It now appears the first crewed launch will take place in 2020, with NASA stating future flight dates are under review. Elon Musk shows off the shiny SpaceX Starship 21 Photos