Now that SpaceX has successfully launched NASA astronauts into space, Elon Musk wants the company to put the pedal to the metal on developing its large capacity Starship rocket.
Musk sent a company-wide email Saturday in which he told employees that accelerating progress “dramatically and immediately” on Starship should be their “top priority,” according to CNBC.
“Please consider the top SpaceX priority (apart from anything that could reduce Dragon return risk) to be Starship,” CNBC quotes from Musk’s email.
Starship is a rocket that’s supposed to be able to carry 100 passengers and cargo into space, including to the Moon and Mars. Like other SpaceX developments, it’s designed to be reusable (spacecraft have traditionally been one-time use objects). Musk unveiled the next-generation rocket in Sept. 2019.
Starship serves as a large, long-duration spacecraft capable of carrying passengers or cargo to Earth orbit, planetary destinations, and between destinations on Earth pic.twitter.com/NoNoOjBW50
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 29, 2019
The hyped debut of Starship prompted some controversy, when NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine basically told Musk: Hey, Starship is great, but what about those astronaut launches you promised us?
Now that SpaceX has begun to fulfill its promise to put the Falcon rocket series to work for NASA astronauts, Musk is apparently turning his attention back to Starship. In the company email, he even told employees they should consider spending more time at SpaceX’s Texas facility, where Starship is being developed, instead of in SpaceX’s California offices.
To Texas, and beyond!