Now that SpaceX has successfully launched two astronauts to the ISS (Internation Space Station), they are looking to move forward with their other celebrity project, the Starship rocket.
The Demo-2 Mission is still in progress as we wait for NASA to announce the return date of the two astronauts along with the Crew Dragon spacecraft. However, that doesn’t stop Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO, from pushing ahead with their other project. For Elon, it’s full speed ahead!
He recently sent an email out to the SpaceX employees letting them know that he’d like to see a dramatic push for the Starship project. A project that recently saw a destructive end (explosion) to one of their prototypes last month (May 29th) that led to a lot of valuable information/feedback (it seemed as though they half-expected it to fail) for their team.
They already have the next prototype ready for testing and another one in the works that should be completed soon. There is a slight wait as they finish their second launch pad they have been working on for the prototype tests since the explosion took out their initial one (oops). However, they already have their eyes on the future as they always seem to be a few steps ahead.
If we have learned anything from their efforts with the Falcon rockets, we can expect to see more fireworks and exciting launch attempts as the SpaceX team pushes through a number of tests to determine the best possible design for Starship. By the sound of things, we might even see a test launch or two this year if they push hard enough.
It’s exciting to think that we are in the cusp of finding a vehicle that can transport crews to the moon and beyond both safely and affordably compared to anything we have ever attempted in the past. Something that will eventually lead to civilian transportation as well, and of course, the dreams of colonizing Mars–as well as, hopefully, more human-friendly planets as we develop faster ways of getting these spacecraft through space.
As mentioned, the Demo-2 Mission isn’t finished yet as they (the astronauts) still have to get back down to Earth once NASA deems their time at the ISS is complete. Until then, SpaceX will continue to focus a good portion of its efforts on making sure this happens successfully.
