SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said the company was still “filming in July” for its first large-scale orbital flight. Enterprise Mars rocket, although she admits that the company may not achieve that goal.
“I hope we can. But we all know it’s hard,” Shotwell said during the National Space Association’s International Space Development Conference on Friday (June 25).
“We’re at the top of that aviation system. or at least trying to make the first orbit of that system. in the near term,” Shotwell said during the meeting. which is held virtually and ready to be viewed on YouTubeShe said there was a huge internal drive at SpaceX to rapidly develop Starship as its founder. Elon Musk Requires “sustainable ability to get people to the moon and mars”
;Related: SpaceX’s Starship and Super Heavy rocket in pictures.
Shotwell made no mention of the lack of orbital flight permits from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which remained silent about what it thought about the company’s orbital plans. An environmental assessment of the spacecraft launch operation is currently underway. CNN Business reported on June 16.And it’s unclear whether the FAA certificate for unmanned orbital test flights will arrive in time for the July deadline.
“The FAA has not provided any updates on the status of environmental assessments. This will include publishing a draft for public comment before the final version. It is unlikely that the process will be completed in time to accommodate a launch in the near future.” SpaceNews reported on Saturday. (26 June).
Earlier this month, CNN Business’ Jackie Wattles wrote: The review and approval are unlikely to be completed. Just in time for the early July release. citing sources familiar with the licensing process.
“Depends on the outcome of that. [environmental] evaluating it [SpaceX] A more thorough review may be needed, which is summarized in the revised Environmental Impact Statement. After the process is complete US Federal Aviation Administration can proceed with issuing permits to launch spacecraft in orbit,” Wattles wrote.
Musk first Tweet about July goals. back in March About a week after SpaceX’s SN10 spacecraft prototype It stopped landing briefly after a 10km test flight, but then exploded.
Then in May, SpaceX have submitted flight plans with the US Federal Communications Commission during the same period Prototype SN15 can fly 6 miles.First time for Starship program
Orbital flight plans indicate that Starship’s orbital mission will launch from its usual position near Boca Chica, Texas, for an ambitious round-the-world unmanned flight to splash off the coast of Hawaii. If everything goes according to plan The first super heavy booster descends into the Gulf of Mexico approximately six minutes after takeoff. About 32 km off the coast of Texas, the Starship upper stage will soar into orbit and make a gentle splash about 100 km off the northwest coast of Kauai in Hawaii (6 miles high jump). All use only Starship prototype without Super Heavy components)
Related: SpaceX could land astronauts on the moon in 2024, says Elon Musk
Meanwhile, SpaceX Still working on Super Heavy .that has not yet come off the ground, such as on June 15 Musk tweeted a picture. Shows two large rockets coming together.
While talking about Starship’s orbital launch, Shotwell also pointed to SpaceX’s anticipated primary commercial market for Starship, point-to-point delivery of cargo and passengers. (Assuming these deliveries will allow the company to generate revenue while still planning for its eventual human Mars mission, SpaceX’s The ultimate goal for Starship.)
“That will change the world for everyone. There’s that capability,” Shotwell said of SpaceX’s delivery system, “and I’m sure we’ll see some good competition. fierce competition which we are definitely looking forward to.”
She also hinted that Starship could be used to clean low Earth orbit from space debris. In the past, it was difficult to fund this space cleanup. Because the area involved is large. Not to mention legal and technical issues.
“I think Starship will be a talent that we can go and pull. space junk Get out of orbit,” Shotwell said. “I know it’s hard. I get it. But we’ve done a lot of difficult things in the past.”
In addition to the Starship update, Shotwell gave a short talk about SpaceX. star link Satellite constellation ready for award from the National Space Association in about six weeks That is, early to mid August. The company hopes to have “Continued coverage of the Starlink constellation around the world,” she said.
SpaceX regularly launches a series of Starlink satellites. by collecting constellations that may be numbered in tens of thousandsAstronomers continue to express concerns about Starlink’s effect on the night skyOne particular concern is the telescope that produces wide images of the sky as a time-lapse image. For applications such as asteroid hunting, SpaceX is working to reduce the brightness of individual Starlink satellites.
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