SpaceX revolutionized sending rockets into space with its reusable booster modules. Its Falcon 9 platform is now the cheapest per kilo of payload.
However, if the company started by Elon Musk is successful at getting its Starship rocket system functional and operational it would drastically slash the cost of travelling into orbit and beyond. On Saturday, SpaceX will be making another go of it with a second test launch from its Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas.
Begun in 2012, Musk has estimated that the Starship program will cost between $5 billion and $10 billion to develop. This year alone SpaceX planned to pump some $2 billion into rocket system in an effort to finally get Starship into orbit for the first time.
The first attempt in April ended in a “Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly” over the Gulf of Mexico roughly four minutes after liftoff. Technical problems forced the launch team to activate the flight termination system resulting in a massive fireball.
However, the first Starship flight managed to achieve several milestones and the company learned valuable lessons even in failure. While Musk isn’t completely confident that the Starship will get into orbit this year putting the odds at 80 percent, he puts them at 100 percent in the first half of 2024.
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