Musk plans to send Starship on historic flight in third week of April

The epic first orbital flight of SpaceX's Starship seems to be heading towards completion. The rocket system could make its first-ever launch as early as next week.

Here's What We Know

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had given three possible launch dates in its guidelines - 10, 11 and 12 April 2023. But the regulator has since set a new date of 17 April 2023. The launch window will open at 2pm (EET) for four hours.

The FAA has yet to issue a launch license for SpaceX. Elon Musk wrote on Twitter that a test flight is expected near the end of the third week of April. April 17 is the middle of the third week.

The Starship rocket system consists of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft. The prototypes, called Booster 7 and Ship 24 respectively, will be part of the test. The rocket has 33 Raptor engines, while the ship has received only six engines.

The thrust will be 7,500 tonnes. This will be a new record. Currently, the Space Launch System (SLS) lunar rocket has the highest thrust at 4,000 tonnes. It was used late last year as part of the Artemis I mission.

Source: @elonmusk