BOCA CHICA, United States, Jan 15, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Elon Musk's SpaceX is 
gearing up for the seventh orbital flight test of Starship, the colossal 
prototype rocket the company hopes will help humans colonize Mars.

A launch window from the company's Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, opens at 
4:00 pm (2200 GMT) Wednesday and will be carried in a live webcast on Musk's 
X platform.

Space enthusiasts will be eager to see if SpaceX can replicate the stunning 
feat of catching the first-stage Super Heavy booster in the launch tower's 
"chopstick" arms during descent, approximately seven minutes after liftoff.

The maneuver was successfully achieved in October but not during the 
following flight in November, when President-elect Donald Trump joined Musk 
to witness the test from mission control.

Instead, Super Heavy made a more subdued splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

This time around, SpaceX announced it had implemented "hardware upgrades to 
the launch and catch tower to increase reliability for booster catch," 
including enhancements to sensor protections on the chopsticks that were 
damaged during the launch, causing the booster's offshore diversion.

Starship has also undergone several design refinements. Its latest iteration 
now stands at 403 feet (123 meters) tall, slightly taller than previous 
versions and roughly 100 feet higher than the Statue of Liberty.

Upgrades include a redesigned upper-stage propulsion system capable of 
carrying 25 percent more propellant, along with modifications to the forward 
flaps. The flaps have been reduced in size and repositioned to reduce their 
exposure to intense heat during atmospheric reentry.

For the first time, Starship will deploy a payload: 10 Starlink simulators, 
comparable in size and weight to the company's internet satellites. Both the 
simulators and Starship's upper stage are set to splash down in the Indian 
Ocean about an hour after launch.

- Betting on Starship -

SpaceX already dominates the orbital launch market with its Falcon 9 and 
Falcon Heavy rockets, which serve commercial clients, NASA and the Pentagon.

But the company has made it clear it sees Starship as its future, with Chief 
Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell recently indicating it would succeed the 
Falcon rockets around the turn of the next decade.

Designed to be fully reusable, Starship's test flights currently cost around 
$90 million, according to analytical group Payload Research, though Musk has 
expressed confidence in eventually reducing that figure to as low as $10 
million per launch.

The first three test flights ended in dramatic explosions, resulting in the 
loss of vehicles. However, SpaceX has rapidly iterated on its design, 
reflecting its "fail fast, learn fast" philosophy.

Musk is aiming to drastically ramp up the frequency of tests, requesting 
permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to carry out 25 in 2025.

The FAA is currently holding public meetings over the issue. Critics have 
accused the company of causing environmental harms, including disruption to 
nearby ecologically sensitive areas and alleged violations of wastewater 
regulations at the launch site.

But with Musk now part of Trump's inner circle, the billionaire could find a 
more favorable regulatory landscape under the incoming administration.