SpaceX Starship fully assembled: When is its first orbital flight is expected?

SpaceX Starship is already fully assembled and ready for its first flight. The company showed impressive photos of this giant rocket at Starbase in south Texas; a photo shows the stainless steel hull, the 120-meter Super Heavy rocket, and the spacecraft itself at the tip of the rocket—that is, the Starship in Ship 24 prototype form.

Starship was expected to launch Monday. But a few hours ago, the US Federal Aviation Administration moved the launch date to April 17. However, as noted by Space.com, it should be taken into account that it is not yet a fact that the rocket will actually launch on that day as well, since SpaceX has not yet received official permission for the launch.

If the rocket launch actually takes place, it will be the most powerful rocket ever launched from Earth.

SpaceX has high hopes for the Starship rocket. The company hopes that this rocket will deliver astronauts and cargo to the Moon and Mars in a few years. Many people also share these hopes; for example, NASA chose Starship as the manned landing module for its Artemis mission to explore the Moon, which is scheduled to land a crew on Moon in 2025.

This rocket platform is expected to be able to launch up to 150 tons of payload into orbit.

For SpaceX, this is, first of all, an opportunity to increase its network of communications satellites (Starlink) in Earth's orbit quickly and affordably. Also, the company plans to organize tourist flights around the Moon, for which some millionaires have already booked tickets.