Elon Musk’s aerospace manufacturing company, SpaceX, has received the go-ahead to build a manufacturing plant, which will produce a gigantic interplanetary rocket called Starship, in the Port of Los Angeles after a unanimous vote.
The company has already had a 30-year lease for the site since 2018. However, the company has had a presence in the area since 2012, building Falcon 9 and Heavy rockets.
However, SpaceX must expand and build another facility that will be equipped to produce the super-sized Big Falcon Rocket.
Work on Starship initially took place in Texas, where SpaceX also has a test site, and in South Florida; however, the company wants to continue work on the rocket closer to their home base in Los Angeles. The change hasn’t slowed down the company’s momentum.
In fact, CEO Elon Musk is optimistic that Starship will be ready for its first test flight before 2020 is over, and having multiple facilities may be vital to achieving that goal.
Previously called the Big Falcon Rocket, and sometimes colloquially known as the “Big Fucking Rocket,” the renamed Starship will be capable of deep space journeys, but that’s not all.
SpaceX intends to build a rocket that will be able to travel anywhere on earth in as little as an hour!
This is made possible by a 50-meter-tall rocket that runs on 1200 metric tons of fuel with a payload of over 100 metric tons, greater than any current launcher.
Approval of the permit that allows SpaceX to expand from 12.5 acres to 19 acres is just one in a series of events that will make this possible.
Starship is actually the combination of the Starship spacecraft, the reusable second stage, and the first stage Super Heavy Rocket that will be capable of long-duration flights that transport both passengers and cargo.
Relying on six Raptor engines that use sub-cooled liquid methane and liquid oxygen, the first stage, or booster, will detach from the Starship craft and return to Earth to be used again. The craft, which can accommodate up to 100 passengers, will continue to its destination.
While Starship will facilitate near-instantaneously travel on Earth, SpaceX’s Elon Musk has always been open about why he founded the company: he wants to colonize Mars, Starship will be paramount to turning this dream into a reality.
Last September, Musk stated that he believes Starship will be the fastest path to a “self-sustaining city on Mars.” If he’s right, we’re seeing history in the making.
