Musk's SpaceX wants to send Starship to Mars next year
What's the story
SpaceX is ramping up its efforts to get the Starship rocket ready for a Mars mission next year, as per the Wall Street Journal.
The company is shifting people and resources toward the ambitious project, even as the vehicle remains in its experimental phase.
Recently, some employees have moved to roles related to Starship, including the Dragon spacecraft staffers.
Setbacks
SpaceX faces setbacks
SpaceX has had a tough year, with two Starship flight tests ending in explosions.
The incidents disrupted airline traffic in Florida and the Caribbean due to falling debris.
The company is under pressure to prove that Starship can deliver as promised by Elon Musk and other executives.
However, it is lagging behind on prepping a Starship variant for a NASA mission to the Moon, now scheduled for 2027.
Upcoming test
Preparing for another Starship test flight
SpaceX is gearing up for another test flight of the Starship vehicle. The company has been testing extensively to learn from the failures of its last mission and make changes for the next one.
"It's definitely been a rough start of the year for Starship," said Shana Diez, an engineering executive at SpaceX, after the second explosion.
She noted that a single issue can cause a launch to fail, making it feel quite daunting when considering costs and time.
Military applications
Potential for global military transport
One of the Starship-related projects that has recently witnessed staff transition is called Starfall.
The project is tied to a military effort to possibly use the vehicle for global transportation of military gear.
The idea is to use rockets to quickly move cargo, enabling spacecraft to deliver large amounts of material to bases or remote locations within an hour of launch and flight through space.
Cargo mission
SpaceX's plan for rocket-cargo mission
In a legal filing last year, SpaceX had revealed its plan to conduct a rocket-cargo mission for the US Air Force using Starship.
The idea is to transport and land over 30,000kg of government cargo.
The company expects to receive some $149 million tied to further developing Starship for these cargo efforts.
This project highlights the potential versatility of the Starship vehicle beyond space exploration missions.
Mars journey
Ambitious plans for Mars mission
Musk is pushing SpaceX to attempt an uncrewed Starship launch to Mars next year. This timeline would require the company to overcome some serious engineering challenges.
One of them is in-orbit fueling, where rockets and spacecraft are typically loaded with all their fuel on the ground.
However, SpaceX aims to fuel up Starships while they are in orbit for deep-space missions.