While SpaceX's Starship hasn't reached orbit yet, Elon Musk's company wants everyone to remember its final destination, Mars. To that end, the company posted a video on Twitter to pay tribute to its future plans. "Gateway to Mars," SpaceX tweeted, expressing its interstellar ambitions.
The video is a behind-the-scenes peek at SpaceX's activities at its Starbase development and launch facility in Texas. This happened after the company first launched a Raptor vacuum engine connected to the Starship prototype.
During testing, SpaceX will already have the Starship prototype make a short jump, but it's still waiting for whether the FAA will allow it to attempt an orbital launch from Texas.
Musk wrote on Twitter on Oct. 2: "If all goes well, Starship will be ready for its first orbital launch attempt next month, awaiting regulatory approval." "At the same time, the work on the orbital prototype is moving forward.
The video is a clever marketing ploy designed to build momentum for Starship, but it's also a sign of progress as SpaceX's next-generation spacecraft aims to make history and enter orbit for the first time. Mars is very far away, but a successful orbital launch would be a thunderous first step in that direction.