Enlarge/ Super Heavy ascends on a pillar of flame in April 2023. (credit: SpaceX)
In a wide-ranging talk on Saturday night, SpaceX founder Elon Musk provided a review of the debut launch of the Starship rocket on April 20. The bottom line, he said, is that the flight of the vehicle slightly exceeded his expectations and that damage to the launch site was not all that extensive. He expects Starship to fly again in as few as two or three months.
“Basically the outcome was roughly sort of what I expected and maybe slightly exceeded my expectations,” he said. “And I’m glad to report that the pad damage is actually quite small, and it looks like it can be repaired quite quickly. It was actually just good to get this vehicle off the ground because we’ve made so many improvements in Booster 9 and beyond.”
Musk spoke for about an hour during a Twitter spaces event, responding to questions from several journalists as well as spaceflight enthusiasts. For those unable to listen, what follows is a summary of what Musk said.
by #AI May 1, 2023 · Automatic
