'Starship Is Ready For Launch': Elon Musk Tweets Ahead Of First Orbital Test Flight Of SpaceX's Largest Launch Vehicle

Starship, SpaceX's largest launch vehicle, is fully stacked at Starbase, and is pending regulatory approval for its first integrated orbital flight test, which is likely to take place next week. 

SpaceX's Starship, the collective term for the Hawthorne-based aerospace firm's Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket, is "ready for launch", CEO Elon Musk tweeted Sunday. The Starship system, SpaceX's largest launch vehicle, is fully stacked at Starbase, and is pending regulatory approval for its first integrated orbital flight test, which is likely to take place next week. 

Starbase is one of the world's first commercial spaceports designed for orbital missions, and is the site for development and manufacturing of Starship. The tentative launch date is April 10, 2023, an Ars Technica article said, citing sources.

A launch rehearsal will be conducted next week ahead of the orbital flight test. During a launch rehearsal, also known as a wet launch rehearsal, all conditions necessary for the launch of a rocket are simulated. However, the rocket does not leave the launch pad. 

Musk has also shared on Twitter a video showing Starship "preparing for launch". 

All about the Starship system 

The Starship system represents a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond, and will be the world's most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, SpaceX says on its website.

The Starship system has a height of 120 metres, a diameter of 9 metres, and a payload capacity of 100 to 150 metric tonnes. It is capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable, which means that while it can carry an extra weight of 250 tonnes, that portion can be used only once, and will subsequently be destroyed. 

The fully reusable spacecraft and second stage of the Starship system is called Starship, which has an integrated payload section and is capable of carrying crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. 

Starship can also carry out point-to-point transport on Earth, and enable travel to any region in the world in one hour or less. 

Starship has a height of 50 metres, a diameter of nine metres, and a propellant capacity of 1,200 tonnes. 

The first stage, or booster of the Starship launch system is called Super Heavy. It is fully reusable, will be powered by 33 Raptor engines using sub-cooled liquid methane and liquid oxygen, and will re-enter Earth's atmosphere to land back at the launch site. Sub-cooled propellants are those which have been cooled to a temperature below their boiling point. 

Super Heavy has a height of 69 metres, a diameter of nine metres, and a propellant capacity of 3,400 tonnes. 

The Raptor engines which will power the Starship system are reusable methane-oxygen staged-combustion engines. The Raptor Engine has twice the thrust of the Falcon 9 Merlin engine. A total of six engines, which include three Raptor engines, and three Raptor Vacuum (RVac) engines, will power the Starship spacecraft.

RVac engines are designed for use in the vacuum of space. 

As many as 33 Raptor engines, with 13 in the centre of Super Heavy, and the remaining 20 around the perimeter of its aft end will power the booster.

Each Raptor engine has a diameter of 1.3 metres, and a height of 3.1 metres. 

According to SpaceX, the Starship system is the most powerful launch system ever developed, and will be able to carry up to 100 people on long-duration, interplanetary flights. The Starship system will also enable satellite delivery and the development of a Moon base.