By
Svetlana Soroka
April 18th, 2024
Two prominent space exploration companies including SpaceX and Virgin Galactic are both at the forefront of developing space crafts for commercial purposes.
Elon Musk, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) has revealed that the company may conduct its next Starship Test Fight as early Wednesday. Per a CNBC report, the scheduled test flight will be one of the most ambitious SpaceX Starship tests the company will ever embark on with plans for the Starship to reach an altitude of 50,000 feet.
SpaceX’s grand plan is to build space ships that can make commercial flights into space a reality. The plan in itself is ambitious, and all of SpaceX’s moves are similarly ambitious. The Starship prototype has the serial number Serial Number 8 or SN8. The SN8 is a 500-foot spacecraft built with stainless steel and is bigger than its predecessors SN5 as well as SN6.
The scheduled timing of the SpaceX Starship test flight was confirmed by Elon Musk following the update given by Michael Baylor on Twitter. Baylor explained:
“An alert notice has been given to the residents of Boca Chica village for Starship testing on Monday, but before you panic, it appears to be the standard static fire (or similar) notice. There is no requirement of temporarily leaving the village.”
Elon Musk responded saying that the testing Baylor was referring to is “Just a static fire,” and that the flight is “no earlier than Wednesday.” With the plan to build the Starship to convey about 100 people, the ship has many more milestones to cross before it can get the pass mark to carry its first set of humans into space.
As reported by CNBC, SpaceX aims “to test 3 engine ascent, body flaps, the transition from main to header tanks & landing flip.” The potential for this upcoming Starship test flight to have a 100 percent success rate on the first try is in doubt as Elon Musk acknowledges that there are lots of things that need to go right thus giving the test flight a ⅓ chance.
SpaceX Starship and the Virgin Galactic Push
Two prominent space exploration companies including SpaceX and Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE: SPCE) are both at the forefront of developing space crafts for commercial purposes. While both companies are working with different timelines, Virgin Galactic’s strides appear to be giving SpaceX a significant push.
Virgin Galactic has recorded a series of significant moves with a partnership with Rolls Royce to jointly develop the Mach 3 supersonic aircraft in a bid to redefine air travel. The development program of Virgin Galactic to transport people to space took a bullish twist when the company announced that it will be flying the company’s founder, Sir Richard Branson into space using one of its spacecraft.
As both companies run the race to develop the right vessels to make space travels a reality, the world anticipates who amongst the two will be the first to successfully take people out of the earth.