This comes after photos of two test models of the rocket appeared side by side at the rocket company’s launch site in Boca Chica, USA. SpaceX is currently constructing its 10th test version of Starship – called the SN10 – as part of the spacecraft’s ongoing development process.
Recently, a Twitter user posted a photo of two Starship rockets standing next to each other and asked, ‘With SN10 almost complete and repairs being done to the runway, do you think this is something we’re in the next few weeks will see? ? ”
The user did not clarify what it meant by “it”, but some observers used it to refer to a simultaneous introduction of two prototypes.
Mr Musk replied with a simple ‘Yes’. He did not elaborate on a specific date for the next test launch.
The Independent reports that the flight test will involve the upcoming SN10 rocket as well as the SN9, which has not yet flown.
Late last year, the latest launch of the Starship test, featuring the SN8 model, caught the news when it flew vertically up to 40,000 feet before performing a horizontal belly flop to Earth.
SN8 then fired its engines to set itself up before attempting to land.
READ: Space Calendar 2021: All the SpaceX launches, NASA missions and Mars landings this year
Eventually, SpaceX hopes to use Starship for manned missions to Mars, which will be the first time for humanity when it is reached.
Meanwhile, the company is also preparing for a test of its Super Heavy rocket booster, on which Starship will eventually sit on top to get it spinning in orbit.
The rocket launcher will be 240 feet long and have a total of 28 Raptor engines.
By comparison, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket – now a workhorse for delivering international space stations and satellite launches – uses nine engines for the first launch stage, albeit of a different type.
Mr Musk said last month he was “very confident” that SpaceX would launch humans to Mars by 2026, but possibly even earlier “if we are lucky”.
The CEO of SpaceX recently came under fire from human rights activists after criticizing the use of gender pronouns on Twitter.
Mr. Musk claims he ‘absolutely supports trans’, but added ‘all these pronouns are an aesthetic nightmare’.
The founding of the Human Rights Campaign called the comments “completely contrary to a ‘safe, inclusive and fair working environment’ and, according to CNBC, called on him to apologize.
A few months earlier, Mr. Musk tweeted “pronouns suck”, but removed the message after receiving criticism from his partner.