Elon Musk hopes to launch Starship into Earth orbit in January

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hopes the Starship rocket can be launched into orbit for the first time in January 2022. Musk does warn about the risks and does not dare to say that it will immediately be a successful flight.

Musk says in a meeting of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine that the orbital boosters and Starship have been built for the first orbit flight. The launch pad and launch tower should also be ready later this month. SpaceX can then conduct the necessary tests in December, with which the launch can ‘hopefully’ take place in January.

That’s not to say it’s going to be a successful launch right away. Musk warns that there are many risks associated with such an initial launch. “But I think we’re going to make a lot of progress with it.” He also wants to do multiple launches with the Starship rocket next year. SpaceX filed for the mission with the US Federal Communications Commission in May.

SpaceX has already launched several Starships, although the spaceship never reached orbit. Starship is SpaceX’s large rocket that can accommodate up to 100 passengers for missions to the Moon and Mars. Musk says he has built a factory to make more Starships, with his company aiming to make many rockets, “more than one or two.” Ultimately, it would take “perhaps a thousand” Starships to enable multiplanetary life, Musk says.

The clip with Elon Musk starts around 6 hours 49 minutes.