Musk Says SpaceX Can Be Ready for Second Starship Flight Test in 1 to 2 Months

© AFP 2023 PATRICK T. FALLONLe lancement de Starship de SpaceX, au Texas, le 20 avril 2023
Le lancement de Starship de SpaceX, au Texas, le 20 avril 2023 - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 22.04.2023
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - SpaceX can be ready for a second flight test of the Starship and Super Heavy rocket system in one to two months, company founder Elon Musk said in a statement.
"Looks like we can be ready to launch again in 1 to 2 months," Musk wrote on Twitter.
Musk said SpaceX will need to repair the launch pad after the first flight test on Thursday created a big crater underneath the launch mount in Starbase, Texas.
Three months ago, according to Musk, SpaceX started building a massive water-cooled, steel plate to go under the launch mount, but it was not ready in time for the first launch. Musk added that the Starship team thought, based on data from a static fire test, that the original base underneath the launchpad would make it through the first launch.
In early February, SpaceX conducted a static fire test of 31 of the 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster at 50% thrust.
On Thursday, SpaceX carried out the first combined launch of the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy first stage booster. The spacecraft was deliberately blown up during the test flight after it began to lose altitude when multiple engines failed. The spacecraft climbed to an apogee of about 39 kilometers (24 miles) over the Gulf of Mexico, which is the highest point any Starship spacecraft has reached to-date in the program's history.
Visitors look on as SpaceX's Starship, the world's biggest and most powerful rocket, stands ready for a scheduled launch from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Wednesday, April 19, 2023. - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 20.04.2023
SpaceX's Starship Explodes During Test Flight
The Starship is the centerpiece of SpaceX efforts to develop a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry humans to the Moon and on long-duration flights to Mars and beyond. The system is designed for in-space refueling and the ability to land at destinations across the solar system and return to Earth.
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