Starship missile launch postponed – Apparata

Starship, SpaceX’s largest spaceship to date, the model that should enable interplanetary travel, has been delayed in its launch.

Starship launch postponed

This is the first time that this prototype has been fully tested. The launch has now been postponed to April 20, 2023. The intention is that all functionality of the Starship will be tested here: launch, separation of the different stages, delivery of the payload and landing. The launch can be followed live on the SpaceX website.

What exactly is Starship?

Starship is a reusable rocket with a huge capacity, around 1,000 cubic meters and a total length of 110 metres. This makes it the largest rocket ever built, even bigger than the Saturn V that brought man to the moon. Musk invented this rocket to enable the cheap transport of large amounts of cargo and people to orbital space, and thus to planets such as Mars.

The Starship can carry 150 tons of cargo to low Earth orbit (LEO) and even 250 tons if the rocket is sacrificed. This makes it the most suitable rocket to date to make Musk’s vision of a permanent human settlement on Mars come true. 150 tons is just enough to realize the Mars One mission. With liquid methane and liquid oxygen, SpaceX has opted for a cheap rocket fuel for the Starship, which can also be prepared on Mars from the available raw materials (carbon dioxide, water) and energy.

On to Mars

All this with the aim of bringing large-scale space travel within reach and giving humans a second home base. A permanent human presence would probably require a hundred or more missiles. To keep a large group of human settlers alive, things like greenhouses, power plants, a clinic, living quarters and workshops are needed. And for that, a large transport missile like Starship is essential. But the largest rocket ever is also very welcome for the ever-increasing human activities in space, and for example moon travel.