SpaceX is getting a head start on its preparations for the Starship megarocket. The spacecraft has been in development since 2003 and began flight testing just over a year ago. Since NASA wants to fly to the Moon with it in 2026, Elon Musk’s company must get its act together. That will mean taking over the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center, news that has not pleased its rivals.
Starship will be the spacecraft that NASA will use to return astronauts to the Moon. After several decades in which no human has returned to our only natural satellite, the United States wants to do so again with the Artemis III mission. Four people will be on board the SpaceX vehicle. The company must therefore ensure that the mega-rocket is completely safe, which means carrying out many tests before launching with a crew inside.
Since Elon Musk announced that Starship was ready, several flight tests have been carried out. Only in the last launch did they manage to get the vehicle to fly and return to Earth without exploding. However, there is still a long way to go before NASA gives the go-ahead to use the mega-rocket on its missions.
SpaceX will soon have to move its operations to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where NASA has its launch pad. The aerospace brand plans to carry out up to 120 Starship flights to be ready for Artemis III in 2026. However, the news has not pleased its competitors.
Starship plans have grown from 44 launches per year to more than 100
So far, there have only been four Starship flights, and they have been launched from Starbase, SpaceX’s platform in Boca Chica, Texas. However, the company wants to speed up launches once they reach the Kennedy Space Center. Initially, they proposed 44 takeoffs per year, something that Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance did not like.
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SpaceX’s rivals asked regulators in June to ensure that SpaceX’s work on Starship in Florida would minimally disrupt their space operations. In fact, Blue Origin went so far as to propose that flights of Elon Musk’s mega-rocket be limited to a very specific time slot. This way, other brands would have priority at certain times.
While the competition’s comments are being processed, SpaceX has upped the ante. Instead of 44 Starship launches, they’re looking at 120 times a year with the next generation of the rocket. If that figure didn’t convince Blue Origin and ULA, it’s clear that the idea of more than 100 flights a year doesn’t either.
SpaceX’s ambitious plans have not yet been approved by the relevant authorities. The US Space Force is currently preparing a draft to assess the environmental consequences of the spacecraft. Depending on the conclusions reached, Starship could (or could not) take up a large number of dates on NASA’s launch pad’s scheduled flight calendar.
Apart from Blue Origin’s proposal to set a schedule for SpaceX, other solutions have also been considered. The US Space Force considered the possibility of Elon Musk’s company building a new platform, specifically designed for the Starship mega-rocket. In this way, the one used by its rivals would be free for them to continue their space operations without any setbacks.
