Liquid oxygen deliveries are increasing rapidly.
Filling tanks
Teslarati reports that SpaceX has sent thousands of tons of rocket propellant from South Texas to its rocket testing facilities. This signals that SpaceX's long-awaited orbital test flight of its Starship spacecraft could be within reach.
Onlookers spotted giant tanks starting to pile up near the orbital test launch site of the company last month. The tanks were massive in order to supply the enormous propellant requirements of the company's Starship and Super Heavy boosters.
The company now receives dozens of liquid oxygen propellant (LOX), deliveries to refill those tanks.
Eric Ralph, senior spaceflight reporter, tweeted that there could be at least 74 LOX delivery! Ralph's back-of the-envelope calculations show that one of three LOX tanks of the company could be filled within days.
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To give some context, the 1500 ton of cargo that has been delivered thus far would fill one Super Heavy LOX tank approximately 60 percent of its capacity, he said in a follow up tweet.
Full Steam
SpaceX's future plans are still unclear. An orbital test flight might not be far off, given the rapid pace of SpaceX's deliveries.
This news comes just a few days after Blue Origin, a space competitor, lost its legal challenge against NASA's awarding SpaceX the highly coveted Human Landing Systems contract. SpaceX is celebrating this huge win and it could help the company focus on Starship and the Moon.
It is uncertain when the orbital test launch will occur, but that depends on other factors. Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO, stated last month that Starship would be ready to launch its first orbital test flight this month, subject to regulatory approval.
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The US Federal Aviation Administration continues to conduct its environmental review. We have not yet heard the final assessment of the regulator, although it held two public hearings in October.
We can only hope that SpaceX gets the green light for this spectacular show in the coming weeks.
READ MORE: SpaceX begins filling Starships orbital launch site with rocket propellant[Teslerati]
Continue reading: NASA employee says SpaceX's Starship is about to change everything
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