we've been waiting over two years to see Elon Musk launch his massive rocket once more and now the
SpaceX founder is beginning to Target a specific time period for starship's initial orbital attempt
last Monday the controversial billionaire tweeted that the upcoming spacecraft that will carry men
to the moon and perhaps establish a society on Mars will be ready to launch stay tuned hello
everyone welcome back to Elon Musk Evolution where we bring you the most recent news about Elon Musk
and his multi-billion dollar companies space news and the latest science and technology but before
we begin make sure you subscribe to our Channel and click the Bell icon so you don't miss any of
our amazing videos within the next few weeks spacex's gigantic's next Generation Starship
spacecraft might launch on its first orbital test mission the historic Mission will launch from
spacex's Star Beach launch complex in South Texas somewhere in the middle of late of April according
to current plans Elon Musk the founder and CEO of SpaceX said via Twitter on Thursday that
SpaceX would be prepared to launch Starship in a few weeks launch timing depends on FAA license
approval which presumably takes a few weeks the first launch attempt will be near the end of the
third week of April AKA he added referring to the United States the Federal Aviation Administration
by the way the AKA part is probably a reference to the potential that Starship could open on April
20th which is a kind of holiday for the Cannabis culture musk enjoys making jokes and references
to 420. Elon Musk claims that SpaceX has a 50 chance of successfully entering Orbit on its
first attempt prior flight tests of the Starship upper stage were only conducted at Heights of
around 6 miles above the surface of the planet the Starship prototype put on some remarkable
belly flop Maneuvers and made some impressive and occasionally explosive Landings during those
testing but SpaceX won't really attempt to get Starship into orbit until April's orbital test
flight the company's super heavy booster stage will also be launched for the first time this does
not imply that orbital space will be reached by the spacecraft Starship presumably has a 50 chance
of entering Orbit on its first try according to musk's recent observation the CEO of Maverick
said I can't promise it will reach orbit but I can promise excitement everything you need to
know about spacex's Starship Mega rocket with its astonishingly Dependable Falcon 9 rocket SpaceX is
currently ruling the space flight sector Elon Musk established a highly revolutionary Corporation in
2002 and it is now getting ready to make its next enormous leap with the launch of the Starship
rocket and let's take a deep dive into what we presently know about this Mega rocket in order
to better comprehend it and how it might transform space flight as we currently know it why is SpaceX
building a Starship according to the company SpaceX is working to create a fully reusable heavy
lift launch vehicle for sending people cargo and spacecraft to Earth orbit the Moon Mars and Beyond
Starship is expected to exceed NASA's Saturn V and space launch system to become the biggest and
most powerful rocket ever built due to its high lifting power big payload capacity and ability
to be reused which decreases launch costs the mega rocket will have a major impact on the commercial
space flight Market once it is in operation along with servicing both the public and private sectors
the rocket will advance spacex's goals as the Elon Musk lead company Works to complete its
starlink Mega constellation plan space tourism flights and consider future crude missions to Mars
why did this Mega rocket become so popular back in 2005 when SpaceX had not yet launched its first
rocket they expressed a desire for a large launch vehicle it even had a moniker bfr in which the
letters b stood for big are for rocket and F for falcon or some other obnoxious superlative you're
probably familiar with according to a 2005 article in this space review musk wanted his company to
compete with NASA's projected shuttle derived heavy lift launcher by developing a rocket that
could carry 100 metric tons into low earth orbit last year marked the successful launch of that
SLS rocket built by NASA but Starship has still not taken off SpaceX didn't formally declare
its plans to develop a heavy lift rocket until September 2016 which was also the month that the
Raptor engine underwent its first successful test the Mars Colonial transporter the interplanetary
transport system and the return of the original big Falcon rocket are just a few of the names
that Starship has gone by early experiments with a 65-foot tall prototype called star Hopper were
conducted by SpaceX as part of the development of Starship in the early months of 2019. according to
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on its first attempt star hopped Rose just one foot above the ground the
lift was so slight that it was hardly noticeable in the test video One rocket engine powered star
Hopper was able to reach a height of 500 feet by August of that year which inspired SpaceX to
create larger prototypes with a prototype named sn5 that was three times taller it would take
the business an additional year to reach the same altitude likewise SpaceX unveiled an sn8 prototype
in late 2020 with a higher altitude of around six miles in mind the rocket which is now formerly
known as Starship has undergone various design modifications over the years but several essential
components like its two-stage design and methane fueled engines have remained the same how much
does building a Starship cost the total cost of developing Starship according to a prior estimate
my musk is expected to be in the range of 2 to 10 billion dollars this amount was clarified by him
in September 2019 when he told CNN business that it was likely closer to 203 billion than it is
to 10 billion and this is important SpaceX isn't paying for everything yusaku maizawa a Japanese
billionaire paid an undisclosed sum to Charter a future Starship flight that will travel to
the Moon musk claim that mazawa is paying a lot of money that will help with the ship and its booster
and that he's ultimately paying for the average citizen to travel to other planets at the time of
the announcement NASA is also funding Starship the space agency and SpaceX have two separate
contracts worth more than four billion dollars whereby the latter will alter Starship to function
as two different human Landing systems for Artemis 3 and Artemis 4. will Starship bring money for
SpaceX time will only tell musk originally stated in February 2022 that each launch of the Starship
might cost as little as one million dollars each flight or ten dollars per 2.2 pounds to
low earth orbit that is a startlingly low figure especially when you consider SLS which according
to Science News will cost 4.1 billion dollars each launch or sixty thousand dollars per 2.2 pounds
to make Starship economical though SpaceX will need a frequent launch schedule and a continuous
flow of clients another argument in favor of profitability is that the Starship is entirely
recyclable SpaceX can simply refuel a recently returned Starship load a new cargo and send it
off on another mission instead of having to build the spacecraft from scratch every time
as NASA presently has to do with the Artemis 2 SLS naturally SpaceX still has to demonstrate that a
rock at this massive can be reflown to do this the company is creating a thermal protection system
that consists of a collection of hexagonal heat shield tiles this system will cover the Rocket's
belly from harm during atmospheric re-entry additionally the craft will engage in a belly
flop maneuver during its descent to reduce the vertical velocity before using the engines and
fins to turn and land the vehicle in a vertical orientation according to NASA's space flight
just how powerful is Starship the 394 foot tall Starship will generate a staggering 16.5 million
pounds of thrust during liftoff as a result of all 33 Raptor engines operating simultaneously with
this much power the launch vehicle will be able to lift 150 metric tons into low earth orbit it will
be the most potent rocket in human history once it is in use compared to NASA's previous Saturn
V which produced 7.8 million pounds of thrust the SLS generates 8.8 million pounds of thrust
with each of them producing 500 000 pounds of thrust the 10 foot tall Raptor stirs the beverage
early in the previous year Raptor 2 a new iteration of the engine from SpaceX was unveiled
it has a more streamlined appearance and more thrust the 230 foot tall super heavy rocket will
split and fall back to Earth six minutes after liftoff as a result of the 3.2 million pounds
of thrust produced by its six Raptor engines the upper stage Starship which also serves
as a spacecraft will then take over the lifting responsibilities the massive fairing on the upper
stage which is 164 feet tall and has a height of 59 feet and a width of 30 feet is 59 feet tall
with a volume of 38 800 cubic feet the resulting payload will be the greatest
in the sector according to SpaceX the payload compartment may be set up for either Personnel
or cargo the top stage will conduct vertical Landings for reusability just as the booster
how will the booster land what is mechazilla the upper stage of Starship is designed to execute
vertical Landings without assistance but the super heavy rocket will require assistance from
a 469 foot tall launch and catch Tower Starship is totally reusable with this design the booster
won't need Landing legs which would have added extra weight and added technological complexity
that's a lot of weight for legs to Bear instead super heavy will return from where it came from
Landing directly onto the launch pad with the help of two mechanical arms known among SpaceX
employees as chopsticks stacking also makes use of the Tower and its arms also referred to as
mechazilla SpaceX stated that the launch Tower is intended to lift its new rocket and booster
on the launch Mount and to catch the super heavy booster upon return from launch in a 2021 Federal
Aviation Administration filing the launch and catch Tower will be constructed out of structural
steel trusses to allow the mechanical arms to lift Vehicles SpaceX added the exact technique
for catching the falling booster is unclear but it is believed that the two arms will Aid in guiding
balancing and snagging the rocket as it lands back on the pad SpaceX eventually wants to launch The
Identical Starship three times every day using this technique two Starship launch towers are now
in operation one at spacex's site in Boca Chica Texas and the other being built in NASA's Kennedy
Space Center in Florida what Starship testing has SpaceX conducted so far from December 2020
to May 2021 SpaceX tested the Starship top stage three times in sub-orbit as some of the attempted
Landings produced explosions large enough to blush even Michael Bay these occurrences made for must
watch live streaming even an FAA investigation was initiated by these testing on May 5 2021 prototype
sn15 completed the final of these suborbital tests which led to a successful vertical Landing
super heavy obviously hasn't flown however it has undergone a number of limited firing tests tanking
tests and a full wet dress rehearsal on January 24 2023 during which the booster was filled with
approximately 5 000 tons of liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellant one of these tests on
July 11 2022 caused a tremendous explosion beneath the booster finally on February 9 the booster was
subjected to a comprehensive static fire test and 31 of its 33 engines lit while claiming that the
rocket will still have enough strength to reach orbit musk didn't appear bothered by the absence
of the two engines no water Deluge system flame trench or thrust diverter existed at the Starbase
orbital launch pad to lessen or divert the energy generated during the test however Tesla Roddy
reports that the flat concrete directly below the pad appeared to survive almost 8 million
pounds of thrust and brutal heat with only minor fragmenting and damage what will happen during
the first orbital Starship mission after lifting off from Star base near Boca Chica the booster
will detach make a partial return and splash down in the Gulf of Mexico a return at the catch Tower
is unlikely on the first launch as it continues to ascend toward its goal altitude of roughly
155 miles the Starship upper stage will make several attempts to reach Earth orbit Starship
won't attempt a full orbit of the planet instead it will re-enter the atmosphere and land in the
Pacific Ocean not far from Hawaii what types of regulatory hurdles must SpaceX overcome threaten
animals particularly endangered Shorebirds can be found at spacex's Boca Chica complex the FAA
completed an environmental evaluation in June 2022 that outlines 75 environmental mitigation steps
that SpaceX required to complete to qualify for a Starship launch license these mitigation measures
included efforts to safeguard cultural resources water quality and Wildlife as well as measures to
maintain high air quality decrease noise pollution prevent wildfires and protect cultural resources
water quality and Wildlife SpaceX has said nothing about its efforts to meet the faa's requirements
but its plans to launch in mid-april indicate that the firm is sure it will acquire the necessary
launch permit the Sierra Club and a group of indigenous peoples from South Texas unsuccessfully
sued the Texas General land office in 2022 claiming that recurrent Beach closers caused
by SpaceX Starship tests were unconstitutional why is there no abort system on Starship the lack of
any sort of emergency launch abort system is one of the most contentious aspects of Starship abort
systems are a common part of both old and new launch systems and they immediately remove crew
capsules from malfunctioning Rockets Starship does not and will not have abort systems unlike
NASA's Orion Russia's soyuz spacex's crew dragon blue origin's new Shepard and Boeing Starliner
Tori Bruno CEO of United launch Alliance responded to this Omission by tweeting in December 2019 that
Rockets carrying people should have abort systems it's important to note the NASA's Space Shuttle
was devoid of an abort device which proved fatal in the Challenger tragedy of 1986. naturally
passenger airplanes lack abort mechanisms as well but this doesn't stop most of us from flying
in a 2019 article Tim Dodd of everyday astronaut gave a thorough explanation of why Starship
doesn't have an abort system he claimed that this is due to starship's engine reliability a failing
Raptor engine won't affect the performance of nearby engines and that the upper stage could
theoretically be used as an escape vehicle should the booster malfunction dot even questioned if an
abort system was necessary claiming that to date a mechanical abort system has only saved lives
twice may have prevented one tragedy and in one case caused a death according to musk atmospheric
re-entries are riskier than launches however it remains to be seen whether NASA or the FAA will
accept all of this when assessing Starship as a launch vehicle suitable for caring humans
how is Starship going to be used by SpaceX the mega rocket will primarily function as a satellite
delivery system Starship will be used by SpaceX to launch its massive Next Generation Starling
satellites as well as satellites owned by paying customers whether they are private or public
Starship should open up completely new options for future missions including spacecraft bigger than
the recently launched web Space Telescope thanks to its enormous lifting capacity and huge fairing
Starship will be able to dock at the International Space Station so it may also transfer supplies and
personnel there Additionally the rocket will create amazing potential for space
tourism including flights around the Moon two such missions are presently planned including
the deer moon mission sponsored by maizawa and a second mission that will also feature billionaire
Dennis Tito how is Elon Musk planning to inhabit Mars with Starship the long-stated goal of must to
colonize Mars depends on the Starship a strategy put forth by the CEO calls for the construction of
100 Starships annually over a 10-year period the 1000 Starships would leave for the red planet in
batches over 30-day windows that open once every 26 months after refueling in orbit musk estimates
that his Starship might send a million people to Mars by 2050 assuming that these flights can
start five years from now on paper that may seem fantastic but colonizing Mars is not an
easy task and many obstacles whether logistical sociological or developmental are sure to stand
in the way for now what we can all do is just anticipate that Starship will fly in the next
few weeks and that ends today's episode what do you think of this episode please subscribe
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