Standing on a low stage set up in front of SpaceX’s towering Mk1 Starship prototype at the company’s Boca Chica Beach launch site Saturday night, SpaceX CEO and chief designer Elon Musk cleared up any doubts about his long-term plans for Boca Chica.
During a question and answer session with reporters following his highly detailed discussion of progress toward development of the Starship Mars spacecraft, he said construction of a second Starship prototype would begin soon at Boca Chica and that orbital flight with the vehicle could be achieved as soon as six months from now.
Also, in response to a question from the Herald, Musk said the odds are 50/50 that the first crewed flights to Mars in history will depart from Boca Chica. The other contender is SpaceX’s Florida launch site. Regardless, humans will eventually fly to the Moon and the Red Planet from Boca Chica, following successful non-crewed flights, in the not-too-distant future.
Musk’s goal is to establish a sustainable city on Mars as quickly as possible. Read Tuesday’s Herald for the complete story on Musk’s Starship presentation.
