~What is Starship?
The SpaceX Starship is a fully reusable second stage and space vehicle being privately developed by SpaceX. It is being designed to be a long-duration cargo- and passenger-carrying spacecraft. While it is being used today as an independent rocket for testing, it will typically be used on orbital launches with an additional booster stage.
On Saturday, Sept.28th, Elon Musk stood before a crowd at SpaceX’s testing facility in Boca Chica, Texas. To the SpaceX employees, guests and reporters assembled (and the millions watching the live stream) Musk presented the fully-assembled Starship Mk.1 prototype. Musk also used the occasion, which also marked the seventeenth anniversary for SpaceX, to celebrate company milestones and update the world on the latest design of the finished Starship.
~What's next for Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship?
Starship is SpaceX's next-generation spacecraft that's designed to carry humans and cargo to Earth orbit, the moon and eventually Mars. A previous "Starhopper" test version pulled off some short jumps in recent months. This new Starship is meant to go much, much higher.
Starship concept images showed a smooth stainless-steel skin, but the welding seams are prominent on this one. "Production version will be a lot more polished than this prototype, but still fun to see," Musk tweeted Tuesday.Musk's ambitious timeline to reach orbit may not play out as he hopes. Major space projects have a knack for hitting delays, but seeing this shiny beast take to the air will be worth the wait.
~Elon's Tweet
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