SpaceX's Starship mega-rocket, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, will probably have its fourth flight "in about two weeks," Elon Musk wrote on X.
The objective is for Starship "to get through max reentry heating," Musk said, adding, "Worth noting that no one has ever succeeded in creating a fully reusable heat shield. Shuttle required >6 months of rework."
Starship Flight 4 in about 2 weeks.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2024
Primary goal is getting through max reentry heating.
Worth noting that no one has ever succeeded in creating a fully reusable heat shield. Shuttle required >6 months of rework. https://t.co/4ffEHSLRbu
Last Wednesday, SpaceX announced that the Starship rocket was "full stack"—meaning its "Ship" upper stage was atop its "Super Heavy" first-stage booster on the orbital launch mount at the Starbase site in Boca Chica, Texas, near Brownsville.
Full stack of Flight 4 Starship pic.twitter.com/TPprnj0zC4
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 16, 2024
SpaceX has already tested the Raptor engines of both vehicles on the orbital launch mount, a standard pre-launch procedure known as static fires.
Starship's first three test flights occurred in April 2023, November 2023, and March 14 of this year. Engineers have rapidly improved Starship's performance in each launch after learning from previous failures.
From reusable rockets to now reusable heat shields, Musk's domination in space launches puts Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance to utter shame.
