Elon Musk says SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft is ready to launch as soon as next week

Following a launch rehearsal this week and pending regulatory permission, SpaceX stated last week that it is ready to launch the fully stacked Starship spaceship for a first orbital flight test. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, has now confirmed that it is ready, with a launch "trending towards near the end of the third week of April," Musk stated in a tweet on Monday.

Starship is SpaceX's long-awaited flagship spacecraft, designed to transport passengers and payloads to destinations such as the Moon and, of course, Mars.

Most crucially, the components are meant to be reusable, and it is partnered with a large booster known as the Super Heavy to get it off the ground.

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SpaceX then released this five-minute all-CG video depicting Starship on voyages to Mars, replete with refuelling and a glimpse at Musk's vision for a Mars settlement.

The Starship has been completely prepared for testing at SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The launch of Starship has been delayed many times, including a major setback last summer when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ruled that there might be some environmental damage outside the base.

But now all that's needed to get Starship and Super Heavy off the ground is an FAA licence. "The FAA will issue a licence only after the agency is satisfied that SpaceX meets all licensing, safety, and other regulatory requirements," an FAA representative told The Wall Street Journal in an email.

According to the FAA's Operations Plan Advisory, the Super Heavy might launch on April 17th, with backup dates scheduled for each successive day until April 22nd. According to sources who spoke with Ars Technica, SpaceX is working closely with the FAA and it is likely that the regulatory body will ultimately issue a licence.

If the April 17th launch date is confirmed, SpaceX is only one week away from finally launching the Super Heavy, which has never been done before.

Once launched, the Super Heavy and Starship are scheduled to split, with the Super Heavy heading to the Gulf of Mexico and the Starship heading into orbit. Soon after, the Starship will reenter Earth's atmosphere and land vertically in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.

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