Elon Musk: SpaceX is 'getting ready' for its first Starship orbital test launch
Starship will fly to an altitude of about 22.5km during its first test flight
Elon Musk and his spaceflight company SpaceX are planning an imminent test flight of their orbital class spacecraft Starship.
In a new filing with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), SpaceX said its Starship vehicle will fly to an altitude of 74,000 feet (22.5 km) in its first test flight and then will come back to the same launching pad, which was used in earlier tests.
In a tweet, Musk also confirmed that SpaceX was gearing up for Starship's test launch in coming days.
The FCC documents list 13th October as an operation start date, meaning that SpaceX is unlikely to perform the Starship test before that date.
The FCC filing comes just about a week after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that it had granted permission to SpaceX to expand its Boca Chica facility for the sake of Starship launches.
SpaceX is also expected to show off its completed Starship spacecraft on 28th September, as teased by Musk recently.
Starship is SpaceX's next-gen spacecraft, designed with the aim to create a vehicle that would be able to serve the needs of the current as well as future customers.
Starship is expected to eventually replace both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, which are currently used by SpaceX for space missions.
Starship will also play a key role in Musk's ambitious plan to reach Mars and to establish a human colony on the planet.
SpaceX wants to launch the first commercial flight of Starship by 2021. But, to do meet that deadline, the company first needs to demonstrate that it is capable of sending its spacecraft to orbit.
Last month, SpaceX test launched its single-engine Starhopper prototype that completed a short flight from the company's Boca Chica test facility. During that test, Starhopper hovered 152 metres above the ground and moved sideways before slowing landing back on a nearby landing pad. The entire test lasted for 57 seconds.
The sub-scale Starship "hopper" spacecraft is powered by a single Raptor engine, the next-gen engine that SpaceX is developing for use on larger Starship vehicle and its giant partner, Super Heavy Rocket. The Starship will sport six Raptors, according to Musk, while the Super Heavy will have 35 engines. Those numbers could change, however, in future.
The first test flight of Starhopper, which was conducted in April, barely produced any separation between the prototype and the ground. But, during the second test flight on 25th July, the prototype performed a brief hover at a height of 20 metres.