Elon Musk hints Starship Rocket may Explode on First Orbital Launch, 50% Chance

*. SpaceX is prepping for the first orbital launch of Starship as soon as Monday, April 17.
*. Starship is the cornerstone rocket for Elon Musk’s Mars ambitions.
*. Musk estimated 50% odds of success and hinted the rocket could blow up on the first orbital attempt.

*. SpaceX received a launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday.

*. The company spared no time in planning Starship’s first orbital launch. Shortly after receiving the license, SpaceX tweeted.

“I think it’s got, I don’t know, hopefully about a 50% chance of reaching orbit,” Musk said, adding that SpaceX is building multiple Starship rockets and that overall, there’s about an 80% chance one of them will reach orbit this year.

If the history of Starship’s suborbital test flights tells us anything, it’s that a failure to reach orbit could mean the rocket blows up.