Ten years on, the rocket carrying Elon Musk's "Mars Dream" has finally been announced for launch today。

The "Mars Migration Plan" is coming to fruition？

Earlier, Musk also announced an amazing Mars immigration plan in a speech at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London.。He is certain that in the next 15 to 20 years, Space X plans to emigrate 80,000 people to Mars, and says these people will live a self-sufficient life on Mars and recuperate and reproduce on Mars.。

On April 17, local time, Musk's space exploration company Space X will launch its powerful new deep space rocket, Starship, for the first time.。If the launch is successful, it will mean that Musk's Mars migration program has taken a big step forward.。

Just last week, the Federal Aviation Administration approved the first test flight of the rocket system, clearing the final regulatory hurdle for the long-awaited launch.。In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said, "After a comprehensive license evaluation process, the FAA concluded that SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy, payload, airspace integration, and financial liability requirements."。The FAA also added that the permit is valid for five years.。

It is reported that this is the first major test of Space X's new launch system, "Starship" launch time is tentatively set for 8 a.m. EDT (20: 00 Beijing time), the launch site is located in BocaChica, Texas, the United States SpaceX launch center, the estimated total duration of 2 hours。It is worth noting that SpaceX will not carry any cargo or astronauts on this launch.。

What is the Starship launch tonight?？

The Starship, formerly known as the Large Falcon Rocket (BFR), is a heavy-duty reusable rocket system developed by Musk's SpaceX.。SpaceX plans to use it for a series of space explorations in the future, such as manned orbiting the moon and going to Mars.。

The two-stage rocket system consists of a first-stage booster "overweight" and a "starship" at the top, with a total height of about 120 meters (70 meters at the bottom and 50 meters at the top), and has the capacity to send more than 100 tons of cargo into Earth orbit.。

Among them, Super Heavy is the first stage of the entire starship system, with up to 33 second-generation sea-level Raptor engines.。The Raptor engine uses liquid oxygen / methane as a propellant and uses a full-flow staged cycle. Each Raptor can generate 2000 kN (204 tons) of thrust。The engine has good multiple ignition capability and does not even require maintenance between launches。

Starship is both the name of the entire system and the name of the class above it.。The upper level is 50 meters high, with 3 sea-level Raptor engines and 3 vacuum Raptor engines。It will have the capacity to send 100 + tons of load into the LEO。The upper stage of the starship will have the ability to refuel in orbit, allowing it to carry the payload to deep space。The starship will dock with the tank version of the starship to refuel.。

The thermal insulation measure of the starship is to cover the surface with thermal insulation tiles。Unlike the shuttle's insulation tiles, the starship's insulation tiles are uniformly made。During re-entry, the starship has a thermally insulated tile-covered side that re-enters forward and keeps its belly down。The insulation tile is not disposable, but it is consumable。In the entire starship system, the insulation tile may be the only component that needs to be replaced。

By design, the Starship rocket is nearly twice as powerful as NASA's own Space Launch System (SLS), which first went into orbit without a crew in November, sending a NASA cruise ship named Orion on a 10-day round trip around the moon.。

The launch test mission, successful or not, will be a key milestone in space exploration and a central goal of NASA's new space program aimed at integrating starships.。If successfully lifted off, the rocket system would immediately become the tallest and most powerful rocket the world has ever seen.。

Musk: "Not necessarily successful, but absolutely awesome!"

Near the launch, Musk has been "pouring cold water" on Twitter to lower expectations, he said, "success is not expected, the best case is to provide key data on how the aircraft rose into space and how to fly back to Earth," Musk added that the launch may be delayed for technical reasons.。

However, there is a tweet can still mention everyone's passion, Musk said the launch "not necessarily successful, but absolutely awesome!"

If all goes according to plan on Monday, 33 Raptor engines will fire at the same time to lift the starship off, completing almost a full circle around Earth before it re-enters the atmosphere and makes a supersonic free landing in the Pacific Ocean, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) from the northern island of Hawaii.。

Earlier on Sunday, the California-based company tweeted that its launch team was moving ahead with flight preparations while keeping a close eye on potential windshear conditions in the forecast that could cause delays.。

Musk has said that the first launch of the Starship spacecraft cost about $3 billion, and the probability of success is like a coin toss.。Musk also declared that once the relevant test is successful, it will start large-scale production, build a space fleet of 1,000 "starships" at a rate of 100 per year, transport 100,000 people and related materials to Mars, and realize the dream of colonizing Mars from the late 2020s.。