Elon Musk tweets 'Mars is looking real' as SpaceX completes test flight of Starship

As SpaceX’s ‘Starship’ spacecraft successfully completed a test flight on August 4 taking off from a launchpad at a facility in South Texas, US, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted, “Mars is looking real." The uncrewed test vehicle is a prototype of SpaceX's next-generation Starship that flew to an altitude of 150m (500ft). In a post shared by Martian Austin Barnard, the Starship SN5 test vehicle can be seen taking off for about 40 seconds from the village of Boca Chica, a major revolutionary event towards the exploration of the celestial body.  

[Starship spacecraft built by SpaceX could land on the moon by 2024. Image by SpaceX]

At around 7:57 p.m. EDT (2357 GMT; 6:57 p.m. local Texas time), the SN5, SpaceX’s second Starship prototype, however, the first this year, took off the Earth for the Red Planet. Featuring a single Raptor, SpaceX's next-generation engine, the stainless-steel SN5 successfully launched without pressurization or engine-firing glitch, according to a report. However, Musk had earlier said that the final Starship vehicle will sport six Raptors, stand about 165 feet (50 m) tall and be capable of carrying up to 100 people, a report confirmed. In fact, SN5 was previously assumed to target a maximum altitude of about 500 feet (150 meters). 

Read: SpaceX's Mars Test Rocket Makes 1st Flight, Landing Upright

Read: SpaceX Return: NASA Astronauts Make First Splashdown In 45 Years; Watch

Delighted and hopeful at the launch

“Beginning of a new era,” Barnard post mentioned in the caption. Operational Starship would be capable enough to explore Mars and the moon simultaneously and will launch on a 31 Raptors SpaceX rocket, Super Heavy, as per reports. Internet was both delighted and hopeful at the launch and poured various reactions. “This is such a big day for space. Congrats to you and the hardworking SpaceX team. Make us Multiplanetary!!” a user wrote. “Can we all just take a moment to admire how beautiful the Raptor flame is,” said another.  

Read: NASA Lauds Success Of SpaceX's First Manned Mission After Astronauts' Historic Splashdown

Read: Astronauts Revisit Their Mission Aboard ISS After Returning To Earth In SpaceX Capsule