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Starship
Starship prototype in launch configuration: Starship spacecraft sits on top of Super Heavy.
Function
Manufacturer
Country of origin
  • United States
Project costat least US$5 billion[a][1]
Size
Height121 m (397 ft)
Diameter9 m (30 ft)
Mass5,000 t (11,000,000 lb)
Capacity
Payload to LEO
MassReusable: 100–150 t
(220,000–331,000 lb)
Expendable: Up to 250 t (551,000 lb)
Volume1,000 m3 (35,000 cu ft)
Associated rockets
Derivative workStarship HLS
Comparable
Launch history
StatusIn development
Launch sitesSpaceX Starbase
Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A (planned)
Total launches2
Success(es)0
Failure(s)2 (IFT-1, IFT-2)
First flight20 April 2023
First stage – Super Heavy
Height71 m (233 ft)
Diameter9 m (30 ft)
Empty mass200 t (441,000 lb)
Gross mass3,600 t (7,937,000 lb)
Propellant mass3,400 t (7,496,000 lb)
Powered by33 Raptor engines
Maximum thrust7,590 tf (74,400 kN; 16,700,000 lbf)
Specific impulse327 s (3.21 km/s) (sea-level)
PropellantLiquid oxygen / Methane
Second stage – Starship
Height50 m (160 ft)
Diameter9 m (30 ft)
Empty mass~100 t (220,000 lb)[2]
Gross mass1,300 t (2,866,000 lb)[b]
Propellant mass1,200 t (2,646,000 lb)
Powered by3 Raptor engines
3 Raptor vacuum engines
Maximum thrust1,500 tf (14,700 kN; 3,310,000 lbf)
Specific impulse327 s (3.21 km/s) (sea-level)
380 s (3.7 km/s) (vacuum)
PropellantLiquid oxygen / Methane
[edit on Wikidata]

Starship is a two-stage super heavy lift launch vehicle under development by SpaceX. It is the heaviest, tallest and most powerful space launch vehicle to have flown into space.[c] Starship is intended to be fully reusable, which means both stages will be recovered after a mission and reused.

The Starship space vehicle is designed to supplant SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, expand SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation, and launch crews to both low Earth orbit and Mars. SpaceX plans to use Starship vehicles as tankers, refueling other Starships to allow missions to geosynchronous orbit, the Moon, and Mars. A lunar lander variant of Starship is to land astronauts on the Moon as part of NASA's Artemis program. Starship is primarily meant to enable SpaceX's ambition of colonizing Mars.

Starship consists of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft. The booster and spacecraft are both powered by Raptor engines, which burn liquid methane and liquid oxygen. Both stages are constructed primarily of stainless steel, a material chosen as an alternative to a series of prior designs. The booster is designed to use its engines to slow itself down before it is caught by a pair of mechanical arms attached to the launch tower. The Starship spacecraft is protected during atmospheric reentry by its thermal protection system, using a 'belly flop' maneuver where the spacecraft turns from a horizontal into a vertical position, then lands using its engines.

The Starship system aims to achieve frequent space launches at low cost. Development follows an iterative and incremental approach involving frequent, and often destructive, test flights of prototype vehicles.[3] The first flight test of the full Starship system took place on 20 April 2023, succesfully lifting-off with several engines out, but ended four minutes after launch with a loss of control[4] and destruction of the launch vehicle. The second flight test of the vehicle took place on 18 November 2023, successfully achieving stage separation, but the Super Heavy booster exploded seconds into firing its engines for its boostback burn, while the upper stage was lost nearly eight minutes after launch.[5]

Description

When stacked and fully fueled, Starship has a mass of approximately 5,000 t (11,000,000 lb),[d] a diameter of 9 m (30 ft)[7] and a height of 121 m (397 ft).[8] The rocket has been designed with the goal of being fully reusable to reduce launch costs.[9] In its fully reusable configuration Starship is designed to carry 150 t (330,000 lb) to low Earth orbit, while the expended configuration is projected to have a payload capacity of 250 t (550,000 lb).[10]

The rocket consists of the Super Heavy first-stage or booster, and the Starship second-stage or spacecraft,[11] powered by the Raptor and Raptor Vacuum engines.[12] The bodies of both rocket stages are made from stainless steel as opposed to carbon fiber as the latter is far more expensive and less durable.[13]

The manufacturing process starts with rolls of steel, which are unrolled, cut, and welded along the cut edge to create a cylinder of 9 m (30 ft) in diameter, 2 m (7 ft) in height, and 4 mm (0.16 in) thick, and around 1,600 kg (4,000 lb) in mass.[14] These cylinders, along with the nose cones, are stacked and welded along their edges to form the outer layer of the rocket.[14] Inside, the methane and oxygen tanks are separated by the robot-made domes.[14]

Super Heavy booster

Main article: SpaceX Super Heavy
Large steel cylinder with complex engine mounts and wiring
Underside of the Super Heavy booster prior to engine installation

The first-stage booster, named Super Heavy is 71 m (233 ft) tall and 9 m (30 ft) wide,[7] and contains 33 Raptor engines arranged in concentric rings.[15] The outermost ring of 20 engines are of the "Raptor Boost" configuration, which lack gimbal actuators to save weight and cost.[16] At full power, all engines combined produce 74,400 kN (16,700,000 lbf) of thrust.[10]

The booster's tanks can hold 3,400 t (7,500,000 lb) of propellant, consisting of 2,650 t (5,840,000 lb) of liquid oxygen and 750 t (1,650,000 lb) of liquid methane.[e][17] In 2021 Elon Musk said that the final design will have a dry mass between 160 t (350,000 lb) and 200 t (440,000 lb), with the tanks weighing 80 t (180,000 lb) and the interstage 20 t (44,000 lb).[2]

The booster uses four electrically actuated grid fins for control, each with a mass of 3 t (6,600 lb).[2] Adjacent pairs of grid fins are spaced sixty degrees apart instead of being orthogonal (as is the case on Falcon 9) to provide more authority in the pitch axis.[18] Also, unlike Falcon 9, the grid fins do not retract and remain extended during ascent.[2] The booster is lifted by protruding hardpoints, which are located between gridfins.[19]

Above the grid fins is the vented interstage, used for hot staging.[20] Hot-staging is a type of rocket staging in which the upper stage fires its engines before breaking itself away from the first-stage, instead of after.[21]

Starship spacecraft

Main article: SpaceX Starship (spacecraft)
Diagram of Starship's internal structure. Not shown in this diagram are the flaps: the aft flaps are placed at the bottom (or left in this orientation), and the forward flaps are placed at the top (here, right) portion of the spaceship.

The Starship spacecraft is 50 m (160 ft) tall and 9 m (30 ft) in diameter. It uses 6 Raptor engines, 3 of which are optimized for use in outer space.[22][23] The engines produce 14,700 kN (3,300,000 lbf) of thrust.[10] The vehicle's payload bay is planned to measure 17 m (56 ft) tall and 8 m (26 ft) in diameter with an internal volume of 1,000 m3 (35,000 cu ft); slightly larger than the ISS's pressurized volume.[24] Starship has a total propellant capacity of 1,200 t (2,600,000 lb)[25] across its main tanks and header tanks.[26] According to Elon Musk in 2019, the header tanks are better insulated due to their position and are reserved for use to flip and land the spacecraft following reentry.[27] A set of reaction control thrusters, which use the pressure in the fuel tank, control attitude while in space.[28]

The spacecraft has four body flaps to control the spacecraft's orientation and help dissipate energy during atmospheric entry, composed of two forward flaps and two aft flaps.[29] According to SpaceX, the flaps replace the need for wings or tailplane, reduce the fuel needed for landing, and allow landing at destinations in the Solar System where runways don't exist (for example, Mars).[30]: 1  Under the forward flaps, hardpoints are used for lifting and catching the spacecraft via mechanical arms.[31] The flap's hinges are sealed in aero-covers because they would be easily damaged during reentry.[2]

Starship's heat shield under inspection

Starship's heat shield, composed of eighteen thousand[32][33] hexagonal black tiles that can withstand temperatures of 1,400 °C (2,600 °F),[34][35] is designed to protect the vehicle during atmospheric entry and be used multiple times with minimal maintenance between flights.[36] The tiles are made of silica[37] and are attached with pins rather than glued,[35] with small gaps in between to allow for heat expansion.[2]

Variants

For satellite launch, Starship is planned to have a large cargo door that will open to release payloads, similar to NASA's Space Shuttle, and close upon reentry instead of a jettisonable nose-cone fairing. Instead of a cleanroom, payloads would be integrated directly into Starship's payload bay, which requires purging the payload bay with temperature-controlled ISO class 8 clean air.[38] To deploy Starlink satellites, the cargo door is to be replaced with a slot and dispenser rack, whose mechanism has been compared to a Pez candy dispenser.[39]

Starship Human Landing System (HLS) is a crewed lunar lander variant of the Starship vehicle that is modified for landing, operation, and takeoff from the lunar surface.[40] Its design features modified landing legs, a body-mounted solar array,[41] a set of thrusters mounted mid-body to assist with final landing and takeoff,[41] two airlocks,[40] and an elevator to lower crew and cargo onto the lunar surface.[42] If fully fueled, Starship HLS is designed to be able to land more than 100 t (220,000 lb) of payload on the Moon per flight.[40]

Starship is planned to be able to be refueled by docking with separately launched Starship propellant tanker spacecraft in orbit. Doing so would increase the spacecraft's mass capacity and allow it to reach higher-energy targets,[f] such as geosynchronous orbit, the Moon, and Mars.[43] A Starship propellant depot could store methane and oxygen on-orbit, and will be used by Starship HLS to replenish its fuel tanks.[44] In 2023 a NASA official estimated the number of Starship launches required for one lunar landing to be "in the high teens",[45] and in 2021 the Government Accountability Office said that SpaceX would "require 16 launches overall".[45] These launches will reportedly have to be in "rapid succession" in order to manage schedule constraints and cryogenic fuel boil-off. This number contrasts with Musk's statement in 2021 that between "four and eight" launches would be required.[45]

Raptor engine

Main article: SpaceX Raptor
A rocket engine with nozzle and intricate plumbing
Sea level-optimized Raptor 1 engine, May 2020

Raptor is a family of rocket engines developed by SpaceX for use in Starship and Super Heavy vehicles. It burns liquid oxygen and methane in an efficient and complex full-flow staged combustion power cycle. The Raptor engine uses methane rather than kerosene as fuel, because methane gives higher performance and also prevents a build-up of deposits in the engine;[46] methane can be directly synthesized from carbon dioxide and water, using the Sabatier reaction.[47] The engines are designed to be reused many times with little maintenance.[48]

Raptor operates with an oxygen-to-methane mixture ratio of about 3.6:1, lower than the stoichiometric mixture ratio of 4:1 necessary for complete combustion. Operation at the stoichiometric ratio provides better performance in theory but the higher temperatures reached would melt the engine.[2] The propellants leave the pre-burners and get injected into the main combustion chamber as hot gases instead of liquid droplets, enabling much higher power density as propellants mix rapidly via diffusion.[46] The methane and oxygen are at high enough temperatures and pressures that they ignite on contact, eliminating the need for igniters in the main combustion chamber.[49] The engine structure itself is mostly aluminum, copper, and steel; oxidizer-side turbopumps and manifolds subject to corrosive oxygen-rich flames are made of an Inconel-like SX500 superalloy.[49] Some components are 3D printed.[50]

At sea level, the standard Raptor engine produces 2.3 MN (520,000 lbf) at a specific impulse of 327 seconds (3.21 km/s), increasing to 350 seconds (3.4 km/s) in a vacuum.[49] Raptor Vacuum, used on the Starship upper stage, is modified with a regeneratively cooled nozzle extension made of brazed steel tubes, increasing its expansion ratio to about 90 and its specific impulse in vacuum to 380 seconds (3.7 km/s).[2] The main combustion chamber operates at a pressure of 350 bar (5,100 psi), which higher than any previous operational rocket engine.[46] The Raptor's gimbaling range is 15°, higher than the RS-25's 12.5° and the Merlin's 5°. SpaceX aims to achieve a per unit cost of US$250,000 when mass produced.[49]

Launch and landing profile

Animation of Super Heavy's integration to the launch mount, using mechanical arms

Payloads are planned to be integrated into Starship at a separate facility and then rolled out to the spaceport.[17] Super Heavy and Starship are then to be stacked onto their launch mount and loaded with fuel via the Starship quick disconnect (SQD) arm and booster quick disconnect (BQD) .[19] The SQD would then retract, all thirty-three engines of Super Heavy ignite, and the rocket lifts off.[19]

A short animation of Super Heavy's landing on mechanical arms. The actual landing speed is a few times slower

At approximately 159 seconds after launch[51] at an altitude of roughly 64 km (40 mi), Super Heavy cuts off all but three of its centre gimbaling rocket engines.[52]: 58  Starship then ignites its engines while still attached to the booster, and separates.[21] During hot-staging, the booster throttles down its engines.[21] The booster proceeds to proceed to effectuate its flip maneuver and initiates its boostback burn.[53] After the boostback burn its engines will shut off, putting Super Heavy on a trajectory for a controlled descent to the launch site, while using its grid fins for minor course corrections. Shortly before landing, it will ignite its engines to slow down sufficiently to be caught by two mechanical arms attached to the tower.[54]

Meanwhile, the Starship spacecraft continues to accelerate to orbital velocity with its six raptor engines.[55] Once in orbit, the spacecraft is planned to be able to be refueled by another Starship tanker variant.[56] Musk has estimated that 8 launches would be needed to completely refuel a Starship in low Earth orbit.[57] NASA has estimated that 16 launches in short succession (due to cryogenic propellant boil-off) would be needed to partially refuel Starship for one lunar landing.[58] To land on bodies without an atmosphere, such as the Moon, Starship will fire its engines to slow down.[59] To land on bodies with an atmosphere such as the Earth and Mars, Starship first slows by entering the atmosphere via a heat shield.[9] The spacecraft would then perform a "belly-flop" maneuver by diving back through the atmosphere body at a 60° angle to the ground,[60] controlling its fall using four flaps at the front and aft sides of the spacecraft.[61] Shortly before landing, the Raptor engines fire,[61] using fuel from the header tanks,[62] and the spacecraft resumes vertical orientation, with the Raptor engines' gimbaling helping to maneuver the craft.[61]

If Starship's rocket stages land on a pad, a mobile hydraulic lift will move them to a transporter vehicle. If the rocket stages land on a floating platform, they will be transported by a barge to a port and then transported by road. The recovered Super Heavy and Starship will either be positioned on the launch mount for another launch or refurbished at a SpaceX facility.[17]: 22 

History

Early design concepts (2012–2019)

Main article: SpaceX Starship design process

In November 2005,[63] before SpaceX had launched its first rocket the Falcon 1,[64] CEO Elon Musk first mentioned a high-capacity rocket concept able to launch 100 tons to low Earth orbit, dubbed the BFR.[63] Later in 2012, Elon Musk first publicly announced plans to develop a rocket surpassing the capabilities of their existing Falcon 9.[65] SpaceX called it the Mars Colonial Transporter, as the rocket was to transport humans to Mars and back.[66] In 2016, the name was changed to Interplanetary Transport System, as the rocket was planned to travel beyond Mars.[67] The design called for a carbon fiber structure,[68] a mass in excess of 10,000 tons when fully-fueled, a payload of 300 tons to low Earth orbit while being fully reusable.[68] By 2017, the concept was temporarily re-dubbed the BFR[69].

In December 2018, the structural material was announced to change from carbon composites[70][68] to stainless steel,[71][72] marking the transition from early design concepts to the current design of Starship.[71][60][73] Musk cited numerous reasons for the design change; low cost and ease of manufacture, increased strength of stainless steel at cryogenic temperatures, as well as its ability to withstand high heat.[74][60] In 2019, SpaceX began to refer to the entire vehicle as Starship, with the second stage being called Starship and the booster Super Heavy.[75][76][77] They also announced that Starship would use reusable heat shield tiles similar to those of the Space Shuttle.[78][79] The second stage design had also settled on six Raptor engines by 2019; three optimized for sea-level and three optimized for vacuum.[80][81] To decrease weight, aft flaps on the second stage's design were reduced from three to two.[82] Later in 2019, Musk stated that Starship was expected to have a dry mass of 120,000 kg (260,000 lb) and be able to initially transport a payload of 100,000 kg (220,000 lb), potentially growing to 150,000 kg (330,000 lb) over time.

Low-altitude flights (2019–2021)

Further information: SpaceX Starship (spacecraft) § Hops (SN3–SN6), and SpaceX Starship (spacecraft) § High-altitude test flights (SN8–SN15)

The first tests started with the construction of the first prototype in 2018, Starhopper, which performed several static fires and two successful low-altitude flights in 2019.[83] SpaceX began constructing the first full-size Starship Mk1 and Mk2 upper-stage prototypes before 2019, at the SpaceX facilities in Boca Chica, Texas, and Cocoa, Florida, respectively.[84] Neither prototype flew: Mk1 was destroyed in November 2019 during a pressure stress test and Mk2's Florida facility was deconstructed throughout 2020.[85][86] After the Mk prototypes, SpaceX began naming its new Starship upper-stage prototypes with the prefix "SN", short for "serial number".[87] No prototypes between SN1 and SN4 flew either—SN1 and SN3 collapsed during pressure stress tests, and SN4 exploded after its fifth engine firing.[88]

In June 2020, SpaceX started constructing a launch pad for orbital Starship flights.[19] The first flight-capable Starship, SN5, was cylindrical as it had no flaps or nose cone: just one Raptor engine, fuel tanks, and a mass simulator.[89] On 5 August 2020, SN5 performed a 150 m (500 ft) high flight and successfully landed on a nearby pad.[90] On 3 September 2020, the similar-looking Starship SN6 repeated the hop;[91] later that month, a Raptor Vacuum engine underwent its first full duration firing at McGregor, Texas.[92]

Short steel rocket with its fins touching the ground
Starhopper under construction, March 2019
Crane hooking onto a steel vessel body
A crane lifting Starship SN5, August 2020
Computer animation depicting a successful high-altitude flight test

Starship SN8 was the first fully complete Starship upper-stage prototype. It underwent four preliminary static fire tests between October and November 2020.[88] On 9 December 2020, SN8 flew, slowly turning off its three engines one by one, and reached an altitude of 12.5 km (7.8 mi). After SN8 dove back to the ground, its engines were hampered by low methane header tank pressure during the landing attempt, which led to a hard impact with the landing pad.[61] Because SpaceX had violated its launch license and ignored warnings of worsening shock wave damage, the Federal Aviation Administration investigated the incident for two months.[93]

On 2 February 2021, Starship SN9 launched to 10 km (6.2 mi) in a flight path similar to SN8. The prototype crashed upon landing because one engine did not ignite properly.[94] A month later, on 3 March, Starship SN10 launched on the same flight path as SN9.[95] The vehicle landed hard and crushed its landing legs, leaning to one side.[96] A fire was seen at the vehicle's base. It exploded less than ten minutes later,[97] potentially due to a propellant tank rupture.[96] On 30 March, Starship SN11 flew into thick fog along the same flight path.[98] The vehicle exploded during descent,[98] possibly due to excess propellant in a Raptor's methane turbopump.[99]

In March 2021, the company disclosed a public construction plan for two sub-orbital launch pads, two orbital launch pads, two landing pads, two test stands, and a large propellant tank farm.[100] The company soon proposed developing the surrounding Boca Chica Village, Texas into a company town named Starbase.[101] Locals raised concerns about SpaceX's authority, power, and a potential threat for eviction through eminent domain.[102]

In early April, the orbital launch pad's fuel storage tanks began mounting.[19] Starship prototypes SN12, SN13, and SN14 were scrapped before completion; SN15 was selected to fly instead.[103] SN15 had better avionics, structure, and upgraded engines.[97] On 5 May 2021, SN15 launched, completed the same maneuvers as older prototypes, and landed safely.[103] Even though SN15, like SN10, had a small fire in the engine area after landing, it was extinguished, completing the first successful high-altitude test.[97] According to a later report by SpaceX, SN15 experienced several issues while landing, including the loss of tank pressure and an engine.[104]: 2 

First integrated flight test (2021–2023)

Main article: SpaceX Starship integrated flight test 1
Starship during the first orbital flight attempt. Notice the multiple engine failures on the first stage.

In July 2021, Super Heavy BN3 conducted its first full-duration static firing and lit three engines.[105] Around this time, SpaceX changed their naming scheme from "SN" to "Ship" for Starship crafts,[106] and from "BN" to "Booster" for Super Heavy boosters.[107] A month later, using cranes, Ship 20 was stacked atop Booster 4 to form the full launch vehicle for the first time; Ship 20 was also the first craft to have a body-tall heat shield.[108] In October 2021, the catching mechanical arms, also known as "chopsticks", were installed onto the integration tower and the first tank farm's construction was completed.[19] Two weeks later, NASA and SpaceX announced plans to construct Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 49.[109]

In early 2022, the Raptor 2 engine was first spotted.[110] In June 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration determined that Starbase did not need a full environmental impact assessment but that SpaceX must address more than 75 issues identified in the preliminary environmental assessment.[111] In July, Booster 7 tested the liquid oxygen turbopumps on all thirty-three Raptor engines, resulting in an explosion at the vehicle's base, which destroyed a pressure pipe and causing minor damage to the launchpad.[112] By the end of November, Ship 24 had performed 2- and full 6-engine static test fires,[113]: 20  while Booster 7 had performed static fires with 1, 3, 7, 14, 11 engines[114][113]: 20  and finally on February 9, 2023, a static fire with 31 engines at 50% throttle.[citation needed] In January 2023, the whole Starship stack underwent a full wet dress rehearsal.[115]

After a canceled launch attempt on 17 April 2023,[116] Booster 7 and Ship 24 lifted off on 20 April at 13:33 UTC in the first orbital flight test.[117] Three engines were disabled during the launch sequence and several more failed during the flight.[118] The spacecraft also lost thrust vectoring control of the Raptor engines later in the flight, which led to the rocket starting an out of control tumbling motion.[118] The vehicle reached a maximum altitude of 24 mi (39 km).[119]

At around 3 minutes following liftoff, the rocket received a command to activate the automated flight termination system. However, the flight termination system failed to destroy the vehicle, the vehicle tumbled for another 40 seconds, and finally exploded.[120][121][122] Had the launch proceeded as planned, the spacecraft would have continued to fly with its ground track passing through the Straits of Florida and eastward around the globe, with a hard splashdown in the Pacific Ocean around 100 km (60 mi) northwest of Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands, having made nearly one full revolution around the Earth.[123][124]: 2–4 

The first flight test blasted large amounts of sand and soil in the air, reaching communities within a 10-km (6-mile) radius.[125][126] A brushfire on nearby state parkland also occurred, burning a small 3.5 acre area of state parkland.[127] Residents of Port Isabel (5 miles from the launch site) complained about 'particulate' matter covering their cars and homes, posting photos to social media,[128]. Later analyses showed the matter to be sand and soil from the launch site.[125][126]

Second integrated flight test (2023)

Main article: SpaceX Starship integrated flight test 2
Starship during the second orbital flight attempt

After the first test flight significant work was done on the launch mount to repair the damage it sustained during the test and to prevent future issues. The foundation of the launch tower was reinforced and a steel water deluge flame deflector was built under the launch mount.[129] Ship 25 was rolled to the suborbital launch site in May and underwent spin prime and static fire testing ahead of flight.[130] Once that was completed, Booster 9 was rolled to the launch site to undergo cryogenic proof testing, spin primes and static fires of its set of engines.[131]

Following the failure of Starship's first flight, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) required SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation in accordance with SpaceX's approved mishap plan under FAA oversight, preventing Starship from being issued another launch license pending the outcome of SpaceX's investigation.[132] In August, SpaceX submitted to the FAA the 63 corrective actions they had to take before another launch could take place.[133] Following SpaceX's final report, the FAA closed the investigation on September 8, 2023.[134][135] By October 31, 2023, the FAA had concluded the safety review portion of the launch license.[136]

On November 18, 2023, Booster 9 and Ship 25 lifted off the pad.[137] All 33 engines continued to function until staging, where the second stage successfully separated by pushing itself away from the first stage.[53] Following separation, the Super Heavy booster completed its flip maneuver and initiated the boostback burn, before exploding.[53][138][139] The vehicle breakup occurred more than three and a half minutes into the flight at an altitude of ~90 km over the Gulf of Mexico.[53] The second stage continued until it reached an altitude of ~150 kilometres (93 mi), after over eight minutes of flight; prior to engine cutoff, telemetry was lost on the second stage.[53] SpaceX said that a safe command destroyed the second stage,[53] prior to achieving its planned orbit or attempting re-entry.[140] It appeared to re-enter a few hundred miles north of the Virgin Islands, according to NOAA weather radar data.[141]

Cost and funding

SpaceX develops the Starship primarily with private funding.[142][143][144] SpaceX Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen disclosed in court that SpaceX has invested more than $3 billion into the Starbase facility and Starship systems from July 2014 to May 2023.[144] Elon Musk stated in April 2023 that SpaceX expected to spend about $2 billion on Starship development in 2023.[145][146]

Musk has theorized that a Starship orbital launch might eventually cost SpaceX only $1 million to launch.[147] Eurospace's director of research Pierre Lionnet stated in 2022 that Starship's launch price to customers would likely be higher because of the rocket's development cost.[148]

As part of the development of the Human Landing System for the Artemis program, SpaceX was awarded in April 2021 a $2.89 billion fixed-price contract from NASA to develop the Starship lunar lander for Artemis III.[149][150] Blue Origin, a bidding competitor to SpaceX, disputed the decision and began a legal case against NASA and SpaceX in August 2021, causing NASA to suspend the contract for three months until the case was dismissed in the Court of Federal Claims.[151][152][153] Two years later Blue Origin was awarded a $3.4 billion fixed-price contract for their lunar lander.[154]

In 2022, NASA awarded SpaceX a $1.15 billion fixed-price contract for a second lunar lander for Artemis 4.[150] The same year, SpaceX was awarded a $102 million five-year contract to develop the Rocket Cargo program for the United States Space Force.[155]

Potential uses

Further information: SpaceX Starship flight tests § Future operational flights

Particular missions

SpaceX plans to use Starship to launch the second generation of SpaceX's Starlink satellites, which currently delivers high-speed internet to over 70 countries.[156] An analyst at financial services company Morgan Stanley stated development of Starship and Starlink are intertwined, with Starship's planned launch capacity enabling cheaper Starlink launches, and Starlink's profits financing Starship's development costs.[157] In deficit from its inception until the end of 2022,[158] Starlink was first reported to be cash flow positive in the first quarter of 2023,[159][160] and Elon Musk said that it continued to remain profitable through 2023.[161] In December 2023, the FCC stated that "At the time of the Bureau’s decision, Starship had not yet been launched. [...][Over a year later], Starship has not yet had a successful launch; all of its attempted launches have failed". The FCC [...] therefore issued a final denial of a of a $885M Starlink subsidy because of "Starlink’s continuing inability to successfully launch the Starship rocket".[162]

As of 2022, the Superbird-9 communication satellite is Starship's first and only known contract for externally made commercial satellites. The satellite has a dry mass of 3 t (6,600 lb), planned for 2024 launch to a geostationary orbit.[163] In the future, the spacecraft's crewed version could be used for space tourism—for example, for the DearMoon project[164] or the third flight of the Polaris program.[165] Musk stated that SpaceX would complete hundreds of cargo flights before launching with human passengers.[166]

In January 2022, SpaceX was awarded a $102 million five-year contract to develop the Rocket Cargo program for the United States Space Force.[155] The five-year contract is intended to "determine exactly what a rocket can achieve when used for cargo transport"[167], and will see the Air Force Research Laboratory collect data during commercial launches of Starship.[167] The contract includes an eventual demonstration mission with the launch and landing of a cargo-laden Starship.[167]

Space exploration

See caption and article
Artemis 3 launch profile of a human landing on the Moon, involving Starship HLS, Starship tanker variants, and Orion spacecraft

Starship's lunar lander Starship HLS was initially chosen by NASA as the sole lunar Human Landing System for the planned Artemis 3 and Artemis 4 crewed missions, as part of the Artemis program.[168][169] The lander is to be launched into a low Earth orbit, and refueled by multiple Starship tanker spacecraft.[170]: 4, 5  Once fueled, it would perform a trans lunar injection burn and enter a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon.[170]: 4, 5  The Orion spacecraft, launched with the Space Launch System, then would dock with Starship HLS and its crew would transfer into the lander.[170]: 4, 5  The lander would then make a powered descent and land near the lunar south pole.[170]: 4, 5  After the crew performs the surface portion of their mission the HLS would ascend with the crew to rendezvous with the Orion spacecraft.[170]: 4, 5  The crew would transfer into the Orion spacecraft and perform a burn to return to Earth.[170]: 4, 5 

Opinions differ on how Starship's planned low launch cost will affect the cost of space science. According to Waleed Abdalati, former NASA Chief Scientist, the planned low launch cost would reduce the cost of satellite replacement and enable more ambitious missions for budget-limited programs.[171] According to Lionnet, low launch cost might not reduce the overall cost of a science mission significantly: of the Rosetta space probe and Philae lander's mission cost of $1.7 billion, the cost of launch (by the expendable Ariane 5) only made up ten percent.[171]

Astronomers have called to consider Starship's larger mass to orbit and wider cargo bay for proposed space telescopes such as LUVOIR, and to develop larger telescopes to take advantage of these capabilities.[172][173] Starship's 9 meters fairing width could hold an 8 meters-wide large space telescope mirror in a single piece,[172] alleviating the need for complex unfoldings such as that of the JWST's 6.5m mirror which added cost and delays.[173]

The low launch cost could also allow probes to use heavier, more common, cheaper materials, such as glass instead of beryllium for large telescope mirrors.[173][148] At 5 tons, the JWST represents only 10% of the mass deliverable by a Starship to the Sun-Earth L2 point, and therefore minimizing the weight of the telescope would not have been a dominant design consideration.[173]

A refueled Starship could launch 100 ton observatories to the Moon and the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point.[173] Starship might also launch probes orbiting Neptune, Jupiter's moon Io, or large sample-return missions.[56] Astrophysicists have noted Starship could deploy multiple antennae up to 30 meters in length, opening up radio astronomy to frequencies below 30 MHz and wavelengths greater than 10m.[173] This would give the ability to study the Universe's dark ages, unfeasible on Earth due to the atmosphere and human radio background.[173]

Space colonization

Further information: SpaceX ambition of colonizing Mars

SpaceX has stated that Starship is intended to be able to land crews on Mars.[174]: 120  The spacecraft would be launched to low Earth orbit and refueled in orbit before heading to Mars.[175] After landing on Mars, the Sabatier reaction could be used to synthesize liquid methane and liquid oxygen, Starship's fuel, in a power-to-gas plant.[176] The plant's raw resources would be Martian water and Martian carbon dioxide.[47] On Earth, similar technologies could be used to make carbon-neutral propellant for the rocket.[177]

SpaceX and Musk have stated their goal of colonizing Mars to ensure the long-term survival of humanity,[148][178] with an ambition of having sent one million people to Mars by 2050.[179] This timeline has been criticized as unrealistic by Kevin Olsen, a physicist at the University of Oxford who has said that "colony needs to become a factory" to produce air, fuel and water as it is "fundamentally impossible to create a completely closed environment in space", and that the technology to do so is "far, far behind the technology of space flight and habitation construction".[180] Olsen also criticized the speed of Musk's timeline, stating that the desire to colonize Mars quickly "makes it even more dangerous". George Dvorsky writing for Gizmodo described Musk's plan as "pure delusion".[181] Serkan Saydam, a mining engineering professor from the University of New South Wales stated that we currently lack the technology to establish a Martian colony, and will likely lack the capacity to establish a Martian city with one million people by 2050.[181]

Musk had maintained an interest in Mars colonization since 2001, when he joined the Mars Society and researched Mars-related space experiments before founding SpaceX in 2002.[182]: 99–100, 102, 112  Musk has made many tentative estimates of Starship's Mars landing.[183] In 2016, he estimated that a crewed mission could be achieved as early as 2024.[184] In December 2020, he revised this estimate to 2026.[185][184] In March 2022, he estimated that the first crewed Mars landing could occur in 2029.[186] SpaceX has not published technical plans about Starship's life support systems or radiation protection.[187]

Facilities

Further information: SpaceX Starbase and SpaceX facilities

Testing and manufacturing

Various spacecraft constructed inside bays
Ship 27, Ship 26 and Booster 10 forward section under construction in Starbase build site, March 2023

Starbase consists of a manufacturing facility and launch site,[188] and is located at Boca Chica, Texas. Both facilities operate twenty-four hours a day.[14] A maximum of 450 full-time employees may be onsite.[17]: 28  The site is planned to consist of two launch sites, one payload processing facility, one seven-acre solar farm, and other facilities.[17]: 34–36  As of April 2022, the expansion plan's permit has been withdrawn by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, citing lack of information provided.[189] The company leases Starbase's land for the STARGATE research facility, owned by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. It uses part of it for Starship development.[190]

At McGregor, Texas, the Rocket Development facility tests all Raptor engines. The facility has two main test stands: one horizontal stand for both engine types and one vertical stand for sea-level-optimized rocket engines.[191] Other test stands are used for checking Starship's reaction control thrusters and Falcon's Merlin engines.[191] The McGregor facility previously hosted test flights of landable first stages—Grasshopper and F9R Dev1.[192][191] In the future, a nearby factory, which as of September 2021 was under construction, will make the new generation of sea-level Raptors while SpaceX's headquarters in California will continue building the Raptor Vacuum and test new designs.[191]

At Florida, a facility at Cocoa purifies silica for Starship heat-shield tiles, producing a slurry that is then shipped to a facility at Cape Canaveral. In the past, workers constructed the Starship Mk2 prototype in competition with Starbase's crews.[193] The Kennedy Space Center, also in Florida, is planned to host other Starship facilities, such as Starship launch sites at Launch Complex 39A, the planned Launch Complex 49, and a production facility at Roberts Road. This production facility is being expanded from "Hangar X", the Falcon rocket boosters' storage and maintenance facility. It will include a 30,000 m2 (320,000 sq ft) building, loading dock, and a place for constructing integration tower sections.[194]

Launch sites

The under construction orbital launch mount for Starship at Starbase launch site, August 2021

Starbase is planned to host two launch sites, named Pad A and Pad B.[17]: 34  A launch site at Starbase has large facilities, such as a tank farm, an orbital launch mount, and an integration tower.[17] Smaller facilities are present at the launch site: tanks surrounding the area containing methane, oxygen, nitrogen, helium, hydraulic fluid, etc.;[17]: 161  subcoolers near the tank farm cool propellant using liquid nitrogen; and various pipes are installed at large facilities.[19] Each tank farm consists of eight tanks, enough to support one orbital launch.[19] The current launch mount on Pad A has a water sound suppression system, twenty clamps holding the booster, and a quick disconnect mount providing liquid fuel and electricity to the Super Heavy booster before it lifts off.[19]

The integration tower or launch tower consists of steel truss sections, a lightning rod on top,[195] and a pair of mechanical arms that can lift, catch and recover the booster.[19] The decision was made to enable flights and reduce the rocket's mass and part count.[104]: 2  The mechanical arms are attached to a carriage and controlled by a pulley at the top of the tower. The pulley is linked to a winch and spool at the base of the tower using a cable. Using the winch, the carriage, and mechanical arms can move vertically, with support from bearings attached at the sides of the carriage.[citation needed] A linear hydraulic actuator moves the arms horizontally. Tracks are mounted on top of arms, which are used to position the booster or spacecraft. The tower is mounted with a quick disconnect arm extending to and contracting from the Starship spacecraft; its functions are similar to the quick disconnect mount that powers the booster.[19]

Since 2021,[196] the company is constructing a second Starship launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A,[194] which is currently used to launch Crew Dragon capsules to the International Space Station.[196] SpaceX plans to make a separate pad at 39A's north, named Launch Complex 49.[194] Because of Launch Complex 39A's Crew Dragon launches, the company is studying how to strengthen the pad against the possibility of a Starship explosion and proposed to retrofit Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 instead.[196] The towers and mechanical arms at the Florida launch sites should be similar to the one at Starbase, with improvements gained from the experience at Boca Chica.[194]

Phobos and Deimos were the names of two Starship offshore launch platforms.[197] The two nearly-identical oil platforms, Valaris 8501 and Valaris 8500, had been purchased from Valaris Limited in June 2020.[198] Further analysis from SpaceX deemed the offshore platforms unsuitable for Starship launches,[199] and both were sold in early 2023.[199]

Reception

Two large spacecraft next to a v-shaped roof house
Starship SN15 and SN16 juxtaposed with a local tiki bar

Economic impact

Economic impact of Starbase

Main article: SpaceX Starbase § Economic impacts

Among nearby locales, reception to Starship's development has been mixed, especially from cities close to the Starbase spaceport. Proponents of SpaceX's arrival said the company would provide money, education, and job opportunities to the country's poorest areas. Fewer than one-fifth of those 25 or older in the Rio Grande Valley have a bachelor's degree, in comparison to the national average of one-third.[200] The local government has stated that the company boosted the local economy by hiring residents and investing, aiding the three-tenths of the population who live in poverty.[201]

In 2021, Activist Elias Cantu of the League of United Latin American Citizens said the company encourages Brownsville's gentrification, and fears an ever-increasing property valuation and a risk of low-income residents being pushed out of the neighborhood.[201]

Starbase in South Texas has attracted SpaceX fans, gathering and taking photos.[202][203] Larger crowds are drawn when a launch is expected.[202][203][204] YouTube channels with large followings such as LabPadre or NasaSpaceFlight have been covering Starship's development since 2019, setting up cameras around the launch and production complex and broadcasting 24-hour livestreams.[204]

Environmental reception

Environmental impact of Starbase

Main article: SpaceX Starbase § Environmental concerns

Though Starbase had originally planned to launch Falcon rockets when the original environmental assessment was completed in 2014,[205] the site in 2019 was subsequently used to develop Starship and therefore required a revised environmental assessment.[206] In 2021, some of the early suborbital hop tests ended in large explosions, causing disruption to residents and wildlife reserves. Residents in the village of Boca Chica had to leave the area prior to each launch due to their proximity.[201] The Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe and environmental activists accused SpaceX of overpolicing the area and disrupting indigenous ceremonies and local fishing.[207]

In 2022, following the failed first test launch of Starship, residents of the nearby Port Isabel complained of a "dust" covering homes, cars, and streets.[208] This dust reportedly consisted of fine particles of sand and soil that had been kicked up into the atmosphere from the launch of Starship.[208] According to Dave Cortez of the Sierra Club environmental advocacy group, several residents complained of broken windows in their businesses and the sand/soil particles covering their homes. [209]

Spectators of the IFT-2 launch have reportedly caused damage to local habitats in the nearby wildlife reserve, prompting criticism by environmental groups.[210] After reports of damage to tidal flats south of the launchpad following IFT-2 in November 2023, the US Fish and Wildlife Service said that they are working with SpaceX "to educate the public on the importance of tidal flat habitat".[211] The Center for Biological Diversity said that Starbase is "surrounded by state parks and national wildlife refuge lands" and include "important habitats for imperiled wildlife" including the critically endangered Kemp's ridley sea-turtle, raising concerns about the impact of Starbase's activities to these habitats and endangered species within.[212][213]

Senator Ted Cruz has said that the second Starship launch was "after months of delay stemming from bureaucratic red tape from AST, Fish and Wildlife and other agencies injecting themselves into the process” resulting in "asinine delays". FAA associate administrator Kelvin Coleman said that the environmental reviews Senator Cruz referred to were required in order to "ensure compliance with NEPA and related environmental laws" and were being conducted in accordance with US law.[214] Environmental protection groups on the other hand have accused regulatory agencies of not doing enough to protect the environment and wildlife in the area surrounding the launch site.[214] In May 2023 several environmental groups sued the FAA and later SpaceX, alleging that the FAA allowed SpaceX to bypass environmental reviews due to Musk's financial and political influence.[215]

Political and commercial reception

In order to compete with SpaceX and close their technological gap with the company, CASC and other aerospace actors in China have been working on their own version of Starship – the Long March 9 superheavy rocket,[216] which is also designed to be fully reusable.[217] Starship's reusability and stainless-steel construction might have influenced Project Jarvis, the second stage of Blue Origin's New Glenn super heavy-lift launch vehicle.[218]

Notes

  1. ^ Source states that $3B amount is the amount spent by SpaceX up to 2023, including an additional $2B planned to be spent by end of 2023
  2. ^ Gross mass is the total of the propellant mass (1,200 tonnes) and approximate empty mass (100 tonnes).
  3. ^ See Comparison of orbital launch systems for more information
  4. ^ Super Heavy dry mass: 200 t (440,000 lb); Starship dry mass: <120 t (260,000 lb); Super Heavy propellant mass: 3,400 t (7,500,000 lb);[2] Starship propellant mass: 1,200 t (2,600,000 lb).[6] The total of these masses is about 5,000 t (11,000,000 lb).
  5. ^ 78% of 3,400 t (7,500,000 lb)[2] is 2,650 t (5,840,000 lb) of liquid oxygen.
  6. ^ Synonymous with increasing the delta-v budget of the spacecraft

See also

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