SpaceX’s giant Starship will probably launch next week, possibly on May 19. SpaceX, in a statement, said that while the primary objective is a successful launch, stage separation and landing in the Gulf of America. But the massive rocket will also carry a few surprises.

The first is that this significantly redesigned vehicle’s Upper Stage will carry 22 Starlink satellites. Previous test flights did not carry a cargo. This test flight will not attempt a landing back at the launch site.

Two of these satellites will be deployed and then examine the rocket’s heat shield while in space and transmit images back to engineers at the launch site. Several of the rocket’s heat shields have been deliberately painted white to easier identify and serve as imaging targets for the video inspection.

This is SpaceX’s 12th test flight. SpaceX has undertaken various ground-based tests over the past few days and they were all successful.

Other posts by :

1. Markets braced for SpaceX IPO
2. Eutelsat shares crash despite good news
3. Analyst: Years of subs growth ahead for Starlink
4. SES CEO: “Multi-orbit is now key”
5. More details emerge on SpaceX IPO
6. Viasat confident despite SpaceX threats
7. Blue Origin launch pad destroyed
8. AST SpaceMobile’s story “more than hype”
9. Musk to merge Tesla with SpaceX?

Categories: Blogs, Broadband, Inside Satellite, Satellite

Tags: spacex, starship