SpaceX has shared details of the upcoming Flight 7 test of the Starship. According to CEO Elon Musk, the next rocket flight will deliver a payload of 10 mock Starlink satellites in a demonstration of commercial launch capabilities.
The space exploration company said on its blog that the deployment will put 10 simulator Starlink satellites similar in size and weight to the next-gen version. It is the seventh flight for the Starship rocket in a series of test-to-failure demonstrations of newly added upgrades.
The upcoming test flight is tentatively fixed for this month and will take off from Boca Chica in Texas. The most recent flight was in November, attended by President-elect Donald Trump, and was largely successful, save for a launchpad problem that forced the Super Heavy to land in the Gulf of Mexico. However, a previous flight in October achieved the first landing on SpaceX’s giant mechanical arms for the booster rocket.
Elon Musk has grand plans for the Starship. Apart from putting satellites in orbit, the completely reusable rocket will help start a permanent colony on Mars by transporting volunteers and infrastructure. It is also a key part of NASA’s plan to return astronauts to the moon before 2030.
