Featured Image Source: @LabPadre via Twitter/Youtube.

SpaceX is in the initial phase of developing its Mars launch vehicle, Starship. It will be a gigantic stainless-steel spacecraft capable of transporting one hundred passengers on long-duration voyages. Today, September 3, SpaceX completed another low-altitude test flight of a Starship prototype in South Texas. The vehicle called Starship SN6 soared 150-meters above Boca Chica beach’s sunny sky, powered by a single Raptor engine; SN6 deployed a set of six legs to perform a controlled landing on a nearby pad. The incredible feat that demonstrated SpaceX’s engineering talent was captured on video by residents, shown below.

WATCH STARSHIP SN6 LAUNCH!

This ‘hop’ test launch comes after a previous prototype SN5 conducted a similar flight less than a month ago. The company aims to make flying Starship test vehicles routine at Boca Chica. Every test flight will offer engineers insight about the Raptor engine power and spacecraft design. Every test takes SpaceX one step closer towards developing a space-ready Starship. The aerospace company aims to fly as many as twenty Starship prototypes in Texas, each will feature slight changes towards improving the craft. SpaceX already has multiple Starships under assembly at the rocket factory that is less than five miles down the launch pad’s road.

Unlike the cylinder prototype that took flight this afternoon, the next prototype that will take flight, SN8, will be a fully assembled vehicle with a nose cone and a set of aerodynamic fins that resemble the company’s planned spacecraft design. Starship SN8 will be powered by a trio of Raptor engines to conduct a higher-altitude test flight of around 20-kilometers.

SpaceX founder Chief Engineer Elon Musk says Starship is ‘key to preserving the light of consciousness,’ and that he is accumulating assets on Earth to build a fleet of Starships that will enable humans to live on the Red Planet. During a recent Humans To Mars conference, Musk shared SpaceX aims to launch Starship to orbit next year. “We’re making good progress. The thing that we’re really making progress on with Starship is the production system,” Musk told the conference’s host. “The thing that really impedes progress on Starship is the production system ... A year ago, there was almost nothing there and now we’ve got quite a lot of production capability. So, we’re rapidly making more and more ships.”

@elonmusk How many of these nose cones are flight worthy? #SpaceX #bocachica 08/14
What do we call this area? Nose Cone _____. Fill in the blank!https://t.co/WBrLbKExB7 🛩️📷🚀2400ft msl pic.twitter.com/QyoIy9dAOE

— RGVAerialPhotography (@RGVaerialphotos) August 16, 2020

“I hope we do a lot of flights. The first ones might not work. This is uncharted territory,” he added, “Nobody’s ever made a fully reusable orbital rocket.” Engineers aim to develop a Starship capable of being as reusable as airplanes.

“Given enough time SpaceX will get to Mars,” Musk stated. “We've got to build upon a Mars base and then we've got to build a city and get to the point where it's self-sustaining.” Before sending humans to Mars, SpaceX will conduct 'hundreds' of satellite deployments to ensure the vehicle is safe. Then, plans to launch a Starship carrying cargo in 2022. If the mission goes well, the target date to send the first humans to the Red Planet is the year 2024.

We will see more of these test flights take place in South Texas, until SpaceX feels confident to launch a Starship test vehicle to orbit. Congratulations to SpaceX!