SpaceX Unveils ‘Starship’ Rocket Prototype; Elon Musk Quoted

SpaceX has presented its prototype Starship rocket at the company’s Boca Chica, Texas location ahead of the Trump administration's plans to send humans to the moon in 2024, Reuters reported Monday.

The public announcement comes after SpaceX submitted regulatory requirements for conducting development and testing activities for the 165-foot rocket in the South Texas location this month.

SpaceX has been using Boca Chica as a location for Starship operations for over three years. In July, the company facilitated a test flight there for a prior iteration of Starship called Starhopper.

“The critical breakthrough that’s needed for us to become a space-faring civilization is to make space travel like air travel,” said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk during the unveiling of Starship.

SpaceX expects to conduct Starship’s first orbital flight in the coming months. NASA contracted the company along with Boeing for the Commercial Crew human spaceflight program, which according to 2019 Wash100 winner Jim Bridenstine is already “years behind schedule.”