Get Ready for Lift Off: Everything You Need to Know About the 1st Test Flight of SpaceX’s Big Starship

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Elon Musk’s SpaceX is prepared to take a major chance with a round-the-world test flight of its large Starship. This rocket is taller than any other ever created, and hopes to carry humans to the moon and Mars. Its tip reaches nearly 400 feet towards the South Texas sky and might launch as soon as Monday – even though there won’t be any passengers on board since it was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday.

SpaceX will be doing their first launch with two sections of the Starship rocket put together. This tall rocket booster has already traveled several miles into space but failed four times before it was able to land correctly this year. For this trial, SpaceX won’t attempt any landings; instead anything that falls off the rocket and spacecraft will end up in the sea.

Last month at a Morgan Stanley conference, Musk said that something super exciting was going to happen – it might not make it into orbit but he thinks there’s about a 50% chance of success. Look out for the massive rocket called Starship having its very first launch!

The Starship is a really really big rocket made of stainless steel. It has 33 engines that give out 16.7 million pounds of thrust which means it can fly high and fast enough to reach space! Musk (the person who builds this rockets) thinks that the Starship could carry up to 250 tons, plus 100 people all at once during a trip to Mars – amazing! It’s so tall that its height alone would be 164 feet (50 meters) tall if you laid it flat on the ground. Before it ever flies passengers anywhere, Musk predicts using this rocket to launch satellites into low-Earth orbit, like his own Starlinks for internet service. Even though NASA used two types of rockets in the past – Saturn V and Space Launch System – they still pale in comparison when put up against the gigantic Starship. The biggest difference though? The Soviet Union’s N1 moon rocket never even launched properly before as it exploded after one minute without anyone aboard!

GAME PLAN

Now, I’ll give you a plan to help figure out what your next steps should be. This plan will allow you to easily understand which path you need to take in order to reach your goals.

The test flight will last for one and a half hours, but not quite enough to make an entire trip around the Earth. After the three minute mark, Starship will be commanded to separate and fall into the Gulf of Mexico. The spacecraft would travel eastward over the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans before it sinks near Hawaii. Even though Starship is created to fly again after its test flight, none of its parts can be reused. A scientist by the name of Jonathan McDowell will probably get more excited when Starship safely lands after orbit – this is because if it all goes well this could mean huge progress in space flight!

A launch pad is a platform from which rockets or spacecrafts can be launched into space.

SpaceX is planning to launch Starship soon from a place near the southern tip of Texas, close to Boca Chica Beach and South Padre Island. The launch pad is about 20 miles away from Brownsville. SpaceX has built their own complex called Starbase for these launches that has around 1,800 staff members who live in the Rio Grande Valley or in Brownsville. A giant robotic arm will be used to catch a returning booster when it lands safely back on earth. Lastly, they are preparing one of the two Florida launch pads so that they can eventually use those too with Starships. The Florida launch pads will also be used for its other uses such as carrying cargo and astronauts into space for NASA or other customers.

THE ODDS

Elon Musk is not sure Starship will reach Outer Space on its very first flight, but he gives it even chances. He also thinks that by the end of this year, there’s a 80% chance at least one of the Starship ships under construction has a high chance to make it if all goes well. It may take two years more however to be able to use them again and again.

CUSTOMERS

SpaceX, a Californian-based company, has been given a $3 billion deal by NASA to help them send astronauts to the moon again after more than 50 years. They will be using the Starship spacecraft for the landing. First, they’ll launch off into space with NASA’s Orion capsule and Space Launch System rocket. When they reach lunar orbit, they’ll get onto the Starship for the final descent onto the surface and back Europe. Before it can go past the moon SpaceX needs Starships to refuel in low Earth orbit so an orbiting depot could become a big help. A private crew will be sent on board first to test how well it works before two flight trips around it without landings are made by explorers.

OTHER PLAYERS

If you’re playing a game, there will be other players with you. They might be on the same team as you, or they could be your opponents. Either way, it’s important to work together and have fun!

There are some cool new rockets coming out soon! Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin company is launching the New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida this year or next. It’s named after John Glenn who was the first American to go into space. NASA also needs it for a spacecraft mission going to Mars in 2024. United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket will make its first launch sending a car to the moon later on this year. And Arianespace from Europe will soon be launching their upgraded Ariane 6 rocket from France in South America. Lastly, NASA has their new Space Launch System rocket which will have different versions and carry people too!

The Big Big News Health and Science Department has been given some help from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Education and Science Support Group. The Associated Press is fully responsible for all of its content.