SpaceX's Mars vehicle Starship to launch Japanese communications satellite in 2024

Japanese company Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation, announced on Friday, that it has chosen SpaceX's giant rocket Starship to launch a communications satellite in 2024. Named Superbird-9, satellite will be inserted into a geosynchronous transfer orbit and "will deliver brocast and broband missions in Ku band primarily over Japan and Eastern Asia, in response to mobility and broband demands", company said in an official release. 

Scheduled to start operation in 2025, satellite will last for at least 15 years in low-Earth orbit (LEO), according to Sky Perfect. As for Starship, which is being touted as a future Mars vehicle, it is yet to launch on a test flight before it is rey for satellite and crewed launches. 165-foot-tall rocket is currently being developed at SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas where it recently underwent a few tests ahe of its first orbital launch. 

Starship's journey ahe

SpaceX recently revealed that it conducted static fire tests of  Super Heavy booster and Ship spacecraft at Starbase as part of preparations for orbital mission. Starship consists of two components, first stage Super Heavy booster and second stage Ship which when combined make up complete rocket. While second stage consists of six Raptor engines, first stage booster will be powered by 33 engines, each producing a force of 230 tons during liftoff. 

On multiple occasions, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has reiterated that Starship will become most powerful launch vehicle to ever launch. "SpaceX’s Starship is a fully reusable transportation system that will be world’s most powerful launch vehicle", Sky Perfect concurred in its release. 

Notably, this is not first time Starship has been booked for missions before its test flight. Before Sky Perfect, NASA was first major agency to offer a $2.89 billion contract to SpaceX to build Starships for missions to Moon. SpaceX has been assigned with designing a human landing system (HLS) that would land astronauts on lunar surface under Artemis Program. 

In dition to this, Starship has also been reserved for a space tourism mission which is targeted for launch in 2023. Named 'Dear Moon', this project was announced by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa who is looking for eight more passengers for a trip around Moon. Besides, Starship will launch on anor manned mission under Polaris Program, which was announced by Jared Isaacman earlier this year.