There are still some hurdles to clear, including final approval from the FAA, Mark Kirasich, associate associate for development of the Artemis campaign at NASA, (Opens in a new window) told an agency committee this week. But if it is to go, the expedition will test the entire system for the first time, The Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket (collectively referred to as Starship) “represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. [in] the most powerful launch vehicle in the world,” says SpaceX. However, there has been a lot of trial and error in space travel. In March 2021, a prototype crashed in a fiery explosion. Until December 2021, a Starship launch was delayed after the FAA said it needed more time to complete an environmental review of the spacecraft. That review was completed (Opens in a new window) in June, but as SpaceNews.com (Opens in a new window) reports, the FAA ordered SpaceX to implement more than 75 meters in order to receive a launch permit. That licensing “is still ahead of us,” Kirasich told NASA this week. SpaceX also needs to complete a static fire test of all 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster, but is only testing up to seven engines at a time, SpaceNews.com says.
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Once approved for launch, Starship is expected to launch from SpaceX’s Boca Chica facility in Texas. The booster will break three minutes into flight, ejecting into the Gulf of Mexico as the spacecraft flies into orbit before re-entering Earth’s atmosphere and making a landing in the ocean near Hawaii. Between the Starship, the Super Heavy, and the payload they both carry, the complete craft is over 394 feet tall with a diameter of 30 feet. In total, it should be able to carry “more than 100 metric tons into Earth orbit.”
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