Elon Musk is on a one-man mission to revolutionise the world. From PayPal to Tesla and Hyperloop, cavalier billionaire Musk is incorporating cutting-edge tech to transform lives. But Elon Musk’s most pioneering plan is SpaceX, which is now ramping up production of its Starship Hopper – set to take mankind to the moon, Mars and even beyond.
SpaceX completed assembly of the test-flight version of SpaceX’s Mars-colonising Starship vehicle in January.
The suborbital, hopping rocket looked like nothing built before with the sleek, shiny craft boasting three prominent fins that end in landing pads.
And it appears SpaceX has been busy in the meantime, as it has just been confined the space company is simultaneously working on not one, but two Starships.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed in a statement: “SpaceX is doing simultaneous competing builds of Starship in Boca Chica Texas & Cape Canaveral Florida.”
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Mr Musk then answered a few questions on Twitter, explaining the competition will help SpaceX figure out which location is better for building – and that the answer might be both.
Mr Musk tweeted: “Both sites will make many Starships. This is a competition to see which location is most effective.
“Answer might be both,” he said in another tweet that day.
“Any insights gained by one team must be shared with the other, but other team not required to use them.”
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The reusable Starship is designed to take people to and from the moon, Mars and even deep space.
Starship will launch atop a powerful Super Heavy rocket, which will also be reusable.
Both Starship and Super Heavy will employ SpaceX’s next-generation Raptor engine.
Seven Raptors will power Starship, and the Super Heavy will incorporate 31 of them.
SpaceX has finished building its fourth Raptor, and the fifth is under construction at the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
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SpaceX will likely hit the 100-Raptor mark by early 2020, he added.
The Texas-built Starship prototype, which SpaceX calls Starhopper, uses one Raptor engine.
Starhopper completed a brief test hop in Boca Chica last month, rising slightly off the pad while still connected to the ground via a tether.
Starship and Super Heavy already have a flight on their manifest: Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa booked a round-the-moon Starship trip, which has a target launch date of 2023.