SpaceX’s Starship will have its first high-altitude test next week – Business Insider – Business Insider

Next week, Elon Musk's space-exploration company SpaceX will take a big step forward in its quest to fly people to Mars.

Musk tweeted on Tuesday that SpaceX's enormous Starship spacecraft which the company eventually wants to use to get humans to Mars will undergo its first high altitude test next week. This follows a successful test firing of the current prototype's engines on Tuesday.

A prototype of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft at the company's facility in Boca Chica, Texas (September 28, 2019). REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare

According to Musk, in next week's test, the rocket will fly 15 km (50,000 feet) into the air. Previous prototypes have made short hops a few hundred meters into the air. This test flight will be a big step in testing whether the design can withstand the rigors of spaceflight.

Elon Musk said in a follow-up tweet on Wednesday that lots could go wrong in this first high-altitude test. "Lot of things need to go right," the billionaire said. When asked on Twitter what he thought the odds were of Starship landing in one piece, he answered "1-in-3."

There are also more prototypes lined up to be tested should this one fail.

Read more: SpaceX may spend billions to outsource Starlink satellite-dish production, an industry insider says and could lose $2,000 on each one it sells

SpaceX's Starship spacecraft is made up of two sections, the Super Heavy booster and the Starship rocket ship which Musk claims will be able to carry 100 people to Mars at a time. The entire spacecraft stands at 120 metres (394 feet) tall.

There's no specific day confirmed for next week, and as TechCrunch notes, test dates are subject to change.

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SpaceX's Starship will have its first high-altitude test next week - Business Insider - Business Insider