Elon Musk Plans to Put SpaceX Starship in Orbit in “Less Than Six Months”
Yesterday, Elon Musk gave an update of his SpaceX Starship program. During the presentation, the SpaceX CEO announced he would like his Starship spacecraft to make it to orbit in six months, the Verge reports.
“This is going to sound totally nuts, but I think we want to try to reach orbit in less than six months,” Musk said. “Provided the rate of design improvement and manufacturing improvement continues to be exponential, I think that is accurate to within a few months.”
During the presentation at SpaceX’s testing facility near Boca Chica, Texas, Musk presented an updated design of the rocket, which indicated that the ship will have a length of 50 meters and a diameter of nine meters, and should eventually be able to lift a payload of 150 tons. Musk also revealed plans for in-orbit fuelling. This would involve the Starship meeting a similarly-sized vehicle during its Earth orbit to refuel before it goes on the long trip to another planet.
Elon Musk reiterated his plans to make life “multiplanetary,” and his hopes for the program to allow humans to “inhabit other worlds.”
Last month, SpaceX’s Starman Roadster, Musk’s space-bound electric sports car, completed its first orbit of the sun.
