Musk: "Next Month SpaceX Starship Fourth Test Flight"

SpaceX plans to attempt the fourth Earth orbit test flight of its spacecraft Starship next month.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, posted on X (formerly Twitter) on the 11th (local time), "Starship is preparing for spaceflight."

Starship 3rd launch on March 14 [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

When an X user asked when the fourth test flight would take place, Musk replied, "Probably in 3 to 5 weeks," adding, "The goal is for Starship to pass the maximum heating point or at least go farther than last time."

Starship reached orbit during its third Earth orbit test flight on March 14, flying for about 48 minutes, but communication was lost during the descent. Test flights were also attempted in April and November of last year, but both failed after about 4 minutes and 8 minutes, respectively.

CEO Musk is developing Starship with the goal of colonizing Mars to enable human migration.