If you’re a space nerd, you might be happy to hear that SpaceX will launch Starship for another test flight on March 14, 2024. They’re ramping up the testing of their largest ship. The last two flights were terminated early, the most recent one revealing 63 changes required by the FAA.
Several theories about the ship’s failure (both stages) have been floated including dry ice build up and having to dump excess propellant to balance the lack of payload in the ship.
Improvements made in every test run result in invaluable information for the team which pours over every detail from the ceramic heat tiles to the jet engines. The goal of this next flight is low earth orbit, and hopefully, a safe booster return.
The ship has been stacked at the Boca Chica launch site in preparation for the 14th, undergoing pre-flight testing.
The ship is the largest in existence, with the ability to carry 150 metric tonnes into orbit while fully reusable and up to 250 tonnes if not making a return trip. Once fully operational, Starship can carry up to 100 people for long duration flights!
Let’s break that down.
It’s projected that SpaceX can ramp to produce over 100 Starships per year (~1 ever 3 days or so) and that is with one factory.
Once perfected this vehicle can take up to 10,000 people to space per year.
That’s a small drop in the bucket when looking at intercontinental flights of which there are around 3 billion annually, so it’s not likely going to replace regular air travel anytime soon (especially given the wear and tear on the body leaving orbit).
But even these modest numbers could allow humans to build a bigger space station, build a station farther away, and potentially build a moon base, all of which would be necessary before we colonize Mars.
The cost per passenger has already been greatly reduced by the SpaceX program’s accomplishments and if Starship can effectively scale it’s likely the cost per passenger will become negligible given that the rockets are reusable.
Why does this matter?
Because we have no plan B.
Imagine being on the planet and learning of an imminent Extinction Level Event, a ship like Starship would increase the likelihood that at least some humans survive the initial event.
Just think about that for a minute.
We spend a lot of time planning as a species, but our best efforts to prevent a ELE asteroid is to move it, and we’re not even sure we can do that effectively.
A reusable ship fleet that could carry thousands of people off planet is vital for our survival, even if you don’t believe that we’ll ever make it to Mars.
At the very least SpaceX is making affordable space travel possible.
Either way you can watch the entire launch live here unless of course they scrub it because of weather or safety.