According to a U.S. official, SpaceX plans to launch its massive Starship rocket system into orbit for the first time in early December. This flight will serve as a crucial demonstration flight as the company works toward sending NASA astronauts to the moon in the coming years.

SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has been working for years to launch its massive next-generation rocket system into orbit from its private launch sites in Texas. To demonstrate landing efforts, SpaceX has only ever launched prototypes of the upper half of the Starship up to a height of around 6 miles (10 km) in the past.

The company's 230-foot (70-meter) Super Heavy launcher will be used to launch the 160-foot (50-meter) Starship spacecraft into orbit on the mission in December, serving as the first test of the entire system.

'We monitor four significant Starship flights. The first one here will occur in December, maybe in the early part of the month, 'A senior NASA official in charge of the Artemis moon program's development, Mark Kirasich, stated during a NASA Advisory Council meeting that was aired live.

The first orbital flight may not launch until after December depending on how the rocket performs in ground tests and regulatory inspections. SpaceX, one of Musk's expanding empire of businesses that also includes Tesla and Twitter, has yet to receive a licence from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates the safety of commercial launch sites. Requests for comment from the FAA and SpaceX were not immediately fulfilled.

Once completely built, Starship is positioned to replace SpaceX's fleet of reusable Falcon 9 rockets as the company's flagship rocket system, providing a more potent and totally reusable trip into orbit for huge numbers of commercial satellites, space travellers, and professional astronauts. 

NASA chose SpaceX's Starship in 2021 to make the first human landing on the moon since 1972 sometime around 2025. A number of spaceflight tests are necessary for that mission, which is covered by a $3 billion contract, and these testing could push out the moon landing mission until 2025.