SpaceX Starship Flight 5 timeline teased by Musk along with major heat shield upgrade

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In a live stream on X this weekend, Elon Musk continued to share details about SpaceX’s fourth Starship test flight and future missions. Starship is the world’s largest rocket, and its full stack lifted off for the fourth time in Texas last week. This was Starship’s fourth test flight, and it was also the most successful test to date, as both the booster spacecraft and the upper stage spacecraft were able to splash gently into the ocean. According to Musk, before the fifth flight, SpaceX will add stronger heat shield plates to the rocket, and the next flight could take place next month.

SpaceX is adding stronger heat shield plates to Starship ahead of Flight 5, Musk says

Starship’s fourth test flight was the second such launch in 2024 and accelerated the turnaround time between launches. SpaceX had to deal with the devastating impact of the first test on the launch pad last year, which resulted in a detailed regulatory process that delayed the second flight. Now, with those hurdles behind it, the firm can quickly conduct test flights to test its technologies and gather data.

Consequently, Musk believes that Starship’s fifth test flight will take place within a month. Speaking to viewers on an X live stream, the executive shared that “the next launch, the Starship launch is probably in about a month.” A major reason behind this long timeline is the Starship’s heat shield. As is the case with other spacecraft, the Starship’s heat shield is one of its most complex components. SpaceX uses thousands of plates to build the shield According to Musk, before the next Flight SpaceX will improve the rocket’s heat shields.

A regular problem that Starship has faced throughout its test history is the loss of heat shield plates. These plates are released during flight and when the rocket is on the ground. Musk said SpaceX plans to add an extra layer beneath the plates to keep the spacecraft safe during re-entry in case its plates fall off.

“We have to get, we’re going to replace the entire heat shield on the ship. So the new heat shield plate is about twice as strong as the ones on the last flight“, shared Musk. “So, um, and we want to put a secondary ablative structure, like an ablative shield behind the plates, so that if a plate cracks or comes loose, it doesn’t cook the rocket.,” he added.

The new tiles are “about twice as strong, or hopefully half as likely to crack or break off” and SpaceX tested secondary ablative material on the fourth flight in areas where the heat shield plates were intentionally removed. This material is “as a silicon, felt ablative“which is not”good for reuse” but keeps the ship and its occupants safe in case the plates fall during or before re-entry.

According to Musk, his plans to build a self-sustaining city on Mars must come to a head “If ships from Earth stop coming for some reason, the Martian city will not die outAs for the first flight to Mars,within three years“It’s a reasonable estimate.

Since Earth and Mars align only every two years, one possible option could be “send some ships to the first meeting of Marss” to “confirm that they can land well, and then take it up from there, then, you know go to I don’t know twenty or thirty ships in the second meeting, a hundred in the third and try to get to a thousand ships that go to Mars every meeting, every two years as soon as possibleMusk speculated.

As for the fifth flight, Musk reiterated that SpaceX plans to capture the booster with the launch tower. “I think Mechazilla has a good chance of catching the missile, maybe I don’t know 50% chance“, he said. Elaborating on the amplifier’s return profile, he found that when “the booster will turn, there will be a point of impact that is out of the sea. So it’s going to have to head for the tower with its grab arms and, if anything, if the booster detects that something’s wrong, it’s going to kill itself in the ocean. If things look good, it will head towards the tower and the wings should be able to grab it.”