The Chief Executive of SpaceX, Elon Musk is expecting the first flight of the fully reusable launch system Starship vehicle to take place in January 2022 delayed by various pending regulatory approvals necessary before launch.
Musk also stated that the company was in the final preparations of both the vehicle and its launch site in Boca Chica, Texas which talking at a joint meeting of the Natiomal Academies Space Studies Board and Board on Physics and Astronomy organized on November 17.
The billionaire seem quite upset with the delay in launch because of formalities and approvals as he tweeted, “We are on the wrong planet for SSTO. On Mars, it is thankfully easy.” As there are no regulatory approvals needed on Mars, it will be very easy to launch Starship on Mars.
Moreover, the CEO of SpaceX is also pointing to the fact that the Starship vehicle requires the use Super Heavy first Stage Booster to reach orbit with a payload and in orbit refueling to allow for higher useful payloads to destinations within the inner solar system.
Musk once tweeted that the Starship would be technically capable of SSTO but only with no Payload. So Starship can prove to be a successful SSTO on Mars because of its lower atmosphere and lower gravity as compared to that of Earth.
The billionaire is not sure about the success of the first launch of the Starship vehicle and thinks it may not succeed but he believes that the company will make a lot of progress.
