Elon Musk Starship news - live: SpaceX to give major update on future of its Mars-bound spacecraft
SpaceX CEO plans to announce major news about Starship Thursday evening
![SpaceX plans an orbital launch of its Mars-bound rocket Starship in early 2022](https://static.the-independent.com/2021/12/07/10/spacex%20launch%20starship%20date.jpg)
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Your support makes all the difference.Elon Musk is set to give a major update on the future of his Starship spacecraft on Thursday evening.
The rocket system – which he hopes will one day take people to the Moon and then Mars – is yet to complete the orbital test that could decide its future.
Mr Musk has given few clues on what the update could entail. But it is possible he could announce a date for that test, which would see the spacecraft leave the Earth, fly in orbit and then crash down into the sea.
The presentation is set to be held at SpaceX’s Starbase compound in Boca Chica, Texas, where development of the Starship has been taking place.
It has already seen a number of successful test, including firing of its vast engines and short hops into the sky. But an orbital test would represent a major step forward for the spacecraft – which Mr Musk has repeatedly make clear represents his hopes for the future of travel from the Earth and beyond.
Life
Musk says that before giving any news, he’d like to discus why SapceX is building Starship.
“Why build a giant reusable rocket, why make life multi-planetary. I think this is incredibly important thing for the future of life itself,” Musk says. There is always a chance something could go wrong on Earth, “the dinosaurs are not around anymore,” he says, adding “Eventually the sun will expand and destroy all life.”
The plants and animals we love, Musk says, cannot build spaceships.
“But we can, and we can bring them with us,” he says.
He also notes that exploring space is inspiring.
“Life can’t just be about solving problems.”
Techno and technology
A few minutes after 9 p.m. EST and the SpaceX livestream has gone from playing techno and showing the SpaceX logo to showing a video of the Starbase facilities.
Musk takes the stage in front of the stacked rocket at 9:05 p.m. EST, saying, “Welcome to Starbase.”
Livestream link
Just a reminder that if you want to watch the SpaceX livestream, you can do so on their website: https://www.spacex.com/.
With a minute or so left until the scheduled start of the program, the site currently still shows an image of the fully stacked Starship towering above the Texas landscape.
Fifteen minutes to go
With a quarter hour to until the SpaceX livestream and update on Starship, it’s worth taking a look back at the vehicle’s development and potential missions.
Elon Musk and SpaceX first announced what would become Starship in 2017, calling it the “big freaking rocket” at that time. It would be 2019 before the first prototype would fly 150 meters above the Texas desert. Known as the Starhopper, the squat, white test vehicle was a far cry from the tall, stainless steel spacecraft rising above Starbase today.
Since the beginning, Musk has described Starship as a vehicle for taking the human species interplanetary. Paired with the Super Heavy booster, it is the largest, most powerful launch vehicle ever constructed, standing 400 feet tall and allegedly capable of lofting 150 tonnes into low Earth orbit.
Allegedly, because SpaceX has yet to fly an orbital test flight. A possible launch date in March may be a topic of Musk’s presentation this evening.
On Thursday morning, Musk tweeted an image of the “fully stacked” Starship — the Starship vehicle atop the Super Heavy Booster — at Starbase.
SpaceX livestream starts in two hours
In addition to the Independent’s liveblog coverage, SpaceX will livestream the Starship announcement on the company’s webpage and Youtube channel. The livestream is scheduled to begin in two hours at 9 p.m. EST, 2 a.m. GMT.
A big rocket
It’s not known what Starship news Musk will announce tonight, but in several Twitter posts, he discussed how a fully resusable, super-heavy lift rocket like Starship is key to making life “multiplanetary.” Super-heavy launch vehicles can lift at least 50 tonnes into orbit. If Starship works as planned, it will be capable of lifting 150 tonnes into orbit, making it the most powerful rocket ever launched. The only rockets to come close are the Saturn V rocket that took Apollo astronauts to the Moon and could lift 140 tonnes into orbit and China’s Long March 9 vehicle.
Nasa’s new Moon rocket, the Space Launch System, or SLS, will be capable of lifting 130 tonnes to orbit — when it’s most powerful configuration becomes operational. The first orbital test flight of SLS was scheduled for March 12, but has been delayed until April or May.
Musk had said in 2019 that he hoped to fly an orbital test of Starship within “six months.”
First update since 2019
Musk’s presentation tonight will be the first major update he has given on Starship since 2019, when he first unveiled a full-sized prototype of the big, reusable rocket.
Elon Musk has promised a major update on the Starship vehicle
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has promised a major update on the Starship vehicle at 2 a.m. GMT Friday morning, 8 p.m. Thursday at Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. Check back here to follow our liveblog on the announcement.
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