Elon Musk's Starship Expected To Take Off Again After 2 Months, Reach Orbit

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Friday that Starship’s second flight should be in two months.

What Happened: Major launchpad upgrades will be completed in a month and then another month would be needed for rocket testing on pad, Musk said. The CEO was responding to a 2-minute video posted by SpaceX on Starship’s first flight in April. “Another step closer to Mars,” SpaceX titled the video.

“Starship is the first rocket/spaceship with the potential to make life multiplanetary,” Musk himself wrote in a later tweet reply.

Why It Matters: SpaceX conducted the first test launch of Starship in April. The rocket exploded in less than four minutes after take-off, damaging the launch pad at Starbase and raining down dust on the residents of Port Isabel, Texas.

Late last month, Musk said that he expects Starship's next launch to reach orbit. The CEO pegs the chance of the Starship reaching orbit at 80% this year and is confident of it reaching orbit within 12 months.

SpaceX has already applied for a Federal Communications Commission permit to allow it to carry out a second test flight and experimental recovery operation for a period of six months beginning June 15th.

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