Elon Musk is a man in a hurry to leave his mark on the world.
Some will say that he has already done so by pushing the entire automotive industry, via the disruption initiated by Tesla (TSLA), to see electric vehicles as the future.
His recent victory on this front, and not the least, is to see Toyota (TYIDY) , the world's automotive leader in terms of sales, tacitly admitting that it made a strategic mistake by opting for hybrid vehicles.
The departure of Akio Toyoda, the grandson of founder Kiichiro Toyoda, from the position of CEO of the Japanese group this year, turned the page on the pre-Musk and Tesla in the car industry. A new era, dictated by the Austin, Texas-based carmaker and its whimsical and charismatic Chief executive Officer, has begun.
'Moon Brought Us Together in 69'
For many entrepreneurs, this feat would be capital. Not for the Techno King, as Musk is known at Tesla, who vowed to give the world a new common dream: to conquer Mars.
"Moon brought us together in ‘69," the billionaire said last July. "Mars can do that in the future."
This dream the billionaire promised would come true in our time.
"Humanity will reach Mars in your lifetime," he said.
So Musk wants to go fast. Very quickly, say his critics and no doubt the regulators. After some confusion at the start of the year, the billionaire now seems to be saying the same thing when it comes to his space ambitions: SpaceX, his rocket and satellite company, is ready for the first orbital test flight of the Starship, the rocket with which Musk wants to conquer Mars.
He repeated it several times in the last six days.
The problem is that he must obtain the license to perform this long-awaited flight. For the moment the position of the main regulator is the same: they will give the license when SpaceX has fulfilled all the necessary conditions.
This is a position that does not seem to please Musk, who has decided to increase the pressure on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
In the last few days, then, the innovator keeps repeating -- without saying the name of the FAA -- that what's stopping SpaceX from giving the world a new dream to unite around is the federal agency.
"Starship is stacked & ready to launch next week, pending regulatory approval," the billionaire said on Twitter on April 6.
'Flight Test as Soon as Next Week'
Three days later, he declared on the social network that: "Starship is ready for launch 🚀. Awaiting regulatory approval."
The following day, Musk puts additional pressure on the FAA: "Starship launch trending towards near the end of third week of April," the tech mogul said on Twitter.
The pressure also comes from SpaceX, which has just posted a message whose content is the same as the previous messages of its founder. Musk retweeted the post.
"Teams are focused on launch readiness ahead of Starship’s first integrated flight test as soon as next week, pending regulatory approval – no launch rehearsal this week," the company said on April 11.
The FAA continues to use the same language.
"The FAA will make a license determination only after the agency is satisfied SpaceX meets all licensing, safety and other regulatory requirements," a spokesperson told TheStreet on April 10.
The regulator has said that the license evaluation "includes reviews on policy, payload, safety, airspace integration, financial responsibility and environmental impacts."
The FAA had given Musk's company a hard time testing the spacecraft last summer, citing no fewer than 75 points and corrections to be made to limit the environmental impact of the giant rocket.
The orbital launch of Starship is supposed to represent a great leap forward for humanity, by offering a machine capable of reaching the moon, then Mars, while carrying tons of cargo.
Starship, a next-generation rocket, refers to the space-transport vehicle and the upper stage of the launcher. The main stage -- that is, the booster needed to launch the Starship -- is called "Super Heavy."
This future reusable transport system will carry both cargo and people. It is designed to quickly replace the entire current range of SpaceX launchers and separate freight and manned transport systems. These are the Falcon Heavy and the Falcon 9, used for launching satellites, refueling the International Space Station, and rotating crews.
The Starship, which will become the most powerful rocket ever launched when it lifts off, will one day carry astronauts and supplies to the moon and possibly Mars.
SpaceX has tested the second-stage Starship spacecraft, but only on high-altitude flights rather than in orbit. The Super Heavy, on the other hand, has yet to fly.
The maiden launch promises to be a spectacular sight as the Super Heavy's 33 Raptor engines propel the vehicle skyward. Just three minutes into the test flight, the Starship will separate from the Super Heavy, on a mission that is expected to last about 90 minutes.
Successful testing of the spacecraft will pave the way for NASA to use a modified version of the Starship spacecraft to land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface, a mission that will take place no sooner than 2025.
The vehicle could also be deployed to ferry supplies to the moon to help build NASA's proposed moon base. NASA is currently targeting the late 2030s for the first astronaut mission to Mars.
