①A senior executive of SpaceX revealed at the Mobile World Congress in Spain that the next test flight of Starship is expected to take place within the next four to six weeks; ②SpaceX is considering an IPO later this year, with a valuation potentially reaching $1.5 trillion, which would make it the largest IPO in history.
Cailian Press, March 3 (Edited by Zhao Hao) At the Mobile World Congress in Spain, executives from Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) provided the clearest timeline yet for the commercial maiden flight of their next-generation rocket.
Michael Nicolls, Senior Vice President of SpaceX's 'Starlink' business, stated that Starship will be ready to align with the timeline for launching an upgraded constellation of Starlink mobile communication satellites by 'mid-2027'.
Gwynne Shotwell, President of SpaceX, said in an interview that the next test flight of Starship is expected to occur 'within the next four to six weeks.' Previously, Elon Musk mentioned that the 12th test flight might take place around early March.
Analysts pointed out that this launch will be closely watched by potential investors, as the company is considering an IPO later this year, at which point its valuation could reach $1.5 trillion, potentially becoming the largest IPO in history.
In October last year, SpaceX successfully completed the 11th test flight of Starship in Texas, with the spacecraft ultimately splashing down in the Indian Ocean. Compared to rockets currently used by the company, such as the 'Falcon 9,' Starship is expected to achieve significant improvements in both cost and payload capacity.
Starship adopts a fully reusable design, capable of carrying payloads weighing up to 150 tons when reused and up to 250 tons in single-use scenarios.
This rocket is crucial to Elon Musk's long-term space ambitions, potentially enabling him to secure more contracts from NASA, send humans to the moon, and eventually travel to Mars.
The success or failure of Starship's test flight is also central to the company's marketing pitch to Wall Street investors: reusable launch vehicles have the potential to revolutionize the economics of accessing space and propel SpaceX into a new phase of growth.
Additionally, the increased payload capacity will accelerate SpaceX’s expansion of its network of thousands of Starlink communication satellites. Currently, this network already serves millions of users.
Nicolls stated, 'Starship can carry over 50 satellites per launch, and we will begin launches by mid-2027. This will allow Starship to deploy an entire satellite constellation system very rapidly.'
Last month, the number of monthly active users for Starlink Mobile surpassed the 10 million mark. Nicolls mentioned that the company aims to more than double this figure to 25 million by the end of this year.
Currently, Starlink Mobile has partnered with telecom operators including T-Mobile US and Virgin Media O2 to provide mobile signal services in areas not covered by terrestrial networks.
Overall, in some regions, this system could even replace the need for terrestrial communication networks,' Nicolls added, revealing that SpaceX hopes to deploy 1,200 satellites within six months after next year's launch, forming a next-generation system with stronger network capabilities.
When asked whether SpaceX’s priority is the Moon or Mars, Shotwell replied that both are important. 'Elon has been talking a lot about the Moon recently, but his true passion lies with Mars. We can consider them as equally prioritized goals.'
Editor/Stephen
