SpaceX reveals that its Starship test vehicle will target launching commercial flights as early as 2021. According to SpaceX VP of commercial sales Jonathan Hofeller, the company is hoping to send it to space for its first commercial mission in 2021. He revealed at an event in Indonesia that SpaceX is already in discussions with three different customers for that flight, all telecom companies likely looking to send satellites to orbit.
During the APSAT conference in Indonesia, SpaceX’s VP of Commercial Sales Jonathan Hofeller stated that the company is currently talking to different telecom companies to pilot Starship’s commercial launch, slated to take place two years from now. Using the Super Heavy rocket booster along with the Starship’s upper, the system is capable of carrying crew and equipment to both the moon and Mars, as well as sending satellites into orbit. The goal is to have the system carry up to 20 metric tons to geostationary orbit and 100 metric tons into low Earth orbit.
SpaceX has been testing flights with the Starship and plans to continue more rigorous tests at both its Florida and Texas locations.
Starhopper completed tethered hop. All systems green. https://t.co/0m5Bm5slD2
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 4, 2019
Before any of that can happen, SpaceX has to put the launch system through more rigorous testing. Hofeller said it’s doing more hop tests in the coming months and that the company’s goal is “to get orbital as quickly as possible, potentially even this year, with the full stack operational by the end of next year and then customers in early 2021.”
