- SpaceX has filed for a license to launch a prototype of its reusable Starship rocket.
- The filing requests permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to launch the prototype nearly 12.5 miles (20 kilometers) into the air from SpaceX's rocket development facility in Boca Chica, Texas sometime between August and February.
- Elon Musk recently said that he still hopes to launch the first humans to Mars aboard a Starship rocket in mid-2024.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
SpaceX filed for a license to launch a prototype of its Starship rocket sometime in the next seven months.
CEO Elon Musk seems to be racing to develop Starship, a reusable rocket designed to one day land on the moon for NASA and take up to 100 people at a time to Mars.
In early June, shortly after SpaceX successfully launched two astronauts to the International Space Station using a different rocket, Musk reportedly urged employees to shift their focus to Starship. Aerial photos have revealed a frenzied increase in construction activity at the company's rocket development site in Boca Chica, Texas.
Now the company has filed a request to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for a license to launch its Starship prototype 12.5 miles (20 kilometers) into the air. The filing, submitted Thursday, says the operation would occur between August 18, 2020 and February 18, 2021.
A full-scale Starship has yet to fly, though a previous and shorter version of the rocket known as Starhopper successfully launched 500 feet and landed.
Several early iterations of Starship prototypes failed and were obliterated during testing while the rockets were filled with inert liquid nitrogen. The most recent Starship prototype exploded the day before astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley rode the company's Crew Dragon spaceship to the ISS — with the help of a different SpaceX rocket, Falcon 9. (The system successfully flew 85 missions before sending Behnken and Hurley into space.)
Musk has said the company may need to build about 20 large prototypes before SpaceX can attempt to launch one into orbit.
Musk confirmed on June 4 that he still hoped to launch the first crew to Mars in a Starship vehicle in mid-2024 — ostensibly as the start of an effort to populate the red planet.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Elon Musk's multibillion-dollar Starship rocket could one day take people to the moon and Mars