SpaceX's Starship clears latest hurdle in quest to return to moon

Jan. 24 (UPI) -- The maiden mission of SpaceX's Starship into orbit could come as soon as March following a successful dry launch run, bringing Elon Musk's dream of viable interplanetary travel a step closer.

SpaceX said its engineers conducted a full fueling test on Monday night of the company's reusable Starship launch system at its Starbase test site in Boca Chica, Texas, with a T-10 launch countdown to just before engine ignition.

"Starship completed its first full flight-like wet dress rehearsal at Starbase today," SpaceX tweeted late Monday, saying the test would help verify a full launch countdown sequence, as well as the performance of Starship and the orbital pad for ''flight-like operations''.

Musk, the company's chief executive, said in a tweet earlier this month that Starship could be ready for its first test flight as soon as late February, with a launch in March "highly likely."

The company, which missed planned schedules for Starship in the past, plans to use the system to send humans back to the moon and eventually to Mars.

Any launch is contingent on U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates commercial space launches, issuing a launch license for Starship in the imminent future.

NASA is heavily invested in Starship to the tune of $4 billion, to provide a vital element of its Artemis III manned mission to the moon.

In November, NASA's Artemis I completed an unmanned mission that flew to the moon, around it, and back to Earth successfully. Artemis II will be the first crewed test flight around the moon.

Artemis III is not expected to blast off until next year at the earliest, but NASA is banking on Starship to get a human crew onto the lunar surface for the first time in more than half a century.

The agency awarded a $2.9 billion contract to SpaceX in April 2021 to develop a version that could land humans on the moon. In November, NASA expanded that contract by $1.15 billion for SpaceX to provide a second crewed landing demonstration mission in 2027 as part of the agency's Artemis IV mission.

"Returning astronauts to the moon to learn, live and work is a bold endeavor,'' NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at the time.

"With multiple planned landers, from SpaceX and future partners, NASA will be better positioned to accomplish the missions of tomorrow: conducting more science on the surface of the moon than ever before and preparing for crewed missions to Mars.''