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SpaceX chief Mr. Elon Musk has shared a two month timeline for the next and equally highly anticipated test flight of the Starship rocket. Starship is the world's largest rocket, with its size necessitated by the requirements to build a rocket to conduct flights to Mars. At the same time, it will also become the first rocket to land humans on the Moon through its second stage that NASA has contracted as part of the Human Landing System lunar lander.

Mr. Musk shared the details in response to a fresh video shared by SpaceX moments back with new and exclusive footage from Starship's test flight late last month. His comments follow statements made by NASA's Administrator Jim Bridenstine to Congress and SpaceX's filings with the Fons Commission (FCC) - bf which lay out a similar timeline as well.

SpaceX Will Finish Developing Starship Launch Pad In A Month

SpaceX's Starship rocket left a cloud of dust after its launch, and while during the test, all attention was focused on the massive rocket taking to the skies, afterward, the damage that it left in its wake was clear. Footage of the launch pad revealed a massive crater under it, directly resulting from SpaceX choosing not to build a flame diversion system for a rocket that generates 16.7 million pounds of thrust when all its 33 engines are firing.

The extent of the damage and the chunks of concrete blasted off from the pad created speculation that perhaps SpaceX would take a considerable amount of time to rebuild it. However, Mr. Musk was quick to state that the next launch attempt would take place in just a couple of months. He seems to be standing by his words, as the current timeline for the Starship test 2 will see SpaceX build the launch pad in a month and then test its rockets on the pad for a similar time period before attempting to reach orbit.

SpaceX's Starship is visible from above. Image: SpaceX

According to him:

Major launchpad upgrades should be complete in about a month, then another month of rocket testing on pad, then flight 2 of Starship

The executive's comments build on what is now appearing to be a 'concrete' timeline for the next Starship test. He had shared similar estimates immediately after the first test flight. Musk's initial comments promised another attempt in a "few months," and NASA's Administrator Bill Nelson shared more precise estimates at the end of June when he toldCongress that SpaceX had told him that the next attempt would take "at least" two months.

Then, a SpaceX filing with the FCC surfaced earlier this month requesting the Commission's authority to communicate with the Starship rocket during "Starship test flight 2." This filing also listed a timeline for the test, with the data starting from the 15th of next month. Today's comments by Mr. Musk push out the timeline by a month, as the earliest date shared by SpaceX with Administrator Nelson would have put the Starship flight test 2 in late June. However, it appears a potential launch can now occur in late July if all goes smoothly and according to plan.

You can take a look at SpaceX's latest Starship flight test footage below: