After Starship's third launch test was a success, SpaceX is already preparing the fourth. According to Digital Trends, the company chaired by Elon Musk intends to test Starship again in May.
At the moment, the team is in the study phase, based on the results of the previous flight. After two less positive first trials, Musk highlighted, in X, the success of the last trial, expressing the belief that Starship will have the capacity to take humanity to Mars.
In any case, in relation to the launch timing, SpaceX is dependent on the supervision of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which must grant a license authorizing the launch.
SpaceX's chief operating officer wants to fly “in about six weeks”
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The intention to fly in May was given, this Tuesday, by the president and director of operations of SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell. At the Satellite 2024 conference, in the city of Washington, she herself said that engineers are in the process of reviewing flight data, but that the objective is to fly “in around six weeks” (via Digital Trends).
Still talking about last week's flight, Shotwell praised the fact that the company achieved “exactly” what it intended. Remember that the first two tests ended suddenly, with the vehicle exploding, shortly after takeoff.
Engineers are trying to moderate Starship's landing speed
The third, in turn, managed to achieve the objective of successfully separating the two halves of Starship: the lower (the booster) and the upper (the ship). Still, according to the same source of information, there are areas for improvement. When the Starship, as predicted, crashed into the Indian Ocean, it plunged at too high a speed, which will be adjusted by the company's engineers for the fourth flight.
Regarding Starship's advances, the BBC considers that this could be an important evolution. This is so, given that Starship is designed to operate on a reuse basis, which means that it could fly to space several times. It is also important to note that the aircraft will be able to carry more than 100 tons with it.
The concrete date of Starship's fourth launch is not yet known, but there is a possibility that it could be in May.