Starship has undergone nearly ten full-scale test flights without successfully reaching space and returning safely. Nine prototypes ended in explosions shortly after launch, explosions in space, or ocean crashes. SpaceX plans a tenth test flight that will target multiple in-space objectives, including deploying eight Starlink simulators. Each Starship prototype costs hundreds of millions of dollars, reflecting an expensive iterative design approach that has delivered muted results. The cost and setbacks are hurting fundraising, with investors wary of a $500 billion valuation. Elon Musk views Starship's success as essential to SpaceX's future and to deploying more Starlink satellites, warning of bankruptcy if reliability is not achieved.
Even after nearly ten launches, the behemoth spacecraft has yet to successfully visit space and then come safely back to Earth even a single time - but NASA is nonetheless relying on it to ferry astronauts from the Moon's orbit down to the surface just over two years from now. Given Starship's track record so far - nine full-scale test
As insider sources told Bloomberg in new reporting, each Starship prototype costs hundreds of millions of dollars to build, highlighting the astronomical costs of SpaceX's unique iterative design approach to developing the world's most powerful rocket. It's an eye-wateringly expensive process that's so far delivered muted results. The mess is also reportedly starting to affect the company's fundraising efforts, according to Bloomberg, with investors
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the future of the company is riding on the success of Starship. For many years, the richest man in the world has touted the rocket as a way to deliver humans to Mars as part of his plan to make the human species interplanetary. The danger is also financial. Musk has warned that SpaceX will face bankruptcy if it can't get the spacecraft working reliably, since the super-heavy launch platform is needed to deliver even more Starlink broadband satellites into low-Earth
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