SpaceX's Starship could launch to orbit for 1st time as soon as July
SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell says the company is still "shooting for July" for the first orbital flight of its huge Starship Mars rocket, although she acknowledged the company may not meet that target.
"I'm hoping we make it, but we all know that this is difficult," Shotwell said during the National Space Society's International Space Development Conference on Friday (June 25).
"We are really on the cusp of flying that system, or at least attempting the first orbital flight of that system, in the very near term," Shotwell said during the meeting, which was held virtually and is available for viewing on YouTube. She said there is a big internal push at SpaceX to develop Starship swiftly, as founder Elon Musk wants "a sustaining capability that will take people to the moon and Mars."
Shotwell did not mention the lack of an orbital flight license from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has remained silent so far about what it thinks about the company's orbital plans. An environmental assessment of Starship launch operations is currently being performed, CNN Business reported on June 16, and it's unclear if FAA certification for the uncrewed orbital test flight will come in time to meet a July deadline.
