It’s March already, and for all intents and purposes, this might finally be the month when we get to see SpaceX’s newest and most interesting rocket, the Starship, take off for the first time in a trip to Earth orbit. At least there’s reason to hope that’s going to be so, after Elon Musk hinted earlier this year at March being the launch month for the hardware.
Like all other space exploration pieces of hardware ever made, the Starship had a pretty rough time getting to where it is now. More importantly, it should have already gotten a taste of what it’s like to travel beyond the borders of our planet a long time ago. Keep in mind, though, this is actual rocket science, and delays in this industry are inevitable.
It’s not yet clear exactly when the first Starship orbital flight will take place, but we do know how it’s going to unfold. In essence, the contraption, comprising the Booster 7 Super Heavy first-stage prototype and the Ship 24 spaceship, will depart the launch pad at the company’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas, and head up into the sky.
At the right time, Booster 7 will separate and come back down to land, while Ship 24 will continue its journey into orbit, where it will move around our planet once. It will then come back to Earth for a splashdown off the coast of Hawaii, about one hour and a half after leaving Texas.
Photo: Hazegrayart
This first mission will effectively open up the doors for Starship uses for other, much more high-profile and important endeavors. After all, SpaceX has developed this rocket, which in its final form should become the most powerful one ever made, with bigger goals in mind: send people to the Moon and possibly even Mars.
For that to happen, a change of venue is required, of course, a move to the center of American space exploration efforts, Cape Canaveral. The move is not in the cards just yet, but that didn’t stop animation specialist Hazegrayart from giving us a taste of Starship launching from the Cape.
The video, released earlier this week, is almost four minutes long, and it’s the perfect way for us to get an idea of what such a launch would look like from Florida. We get to see pretty much all the steps of a space mission, from the final countdown and the ignition of the booster to the separation of the two stages and the perfect booster landing.
What we don’t get to see is where the Starship itself eventually went, but that’s for each of us to imagine. If you find that a bit difficult, you could use this other Hazegrayart video to see the spaceship landing on Mars.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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