SpaceX Starship

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This article is about a SpaceX launch vehicle. For other uses, see Starship (disambiguation).

Steel rocket facing backward on a launch mount
Top of a steel booster inside a construction bay
Starship spacecraft SN16 and
Super Heavy booster BN4
Function
Manufacturer
Country of origin
  • United States
Size
Height
  • 122 m
  • 400 ft
Diameter
  • 9 m
  • 29.5 ft
Mass
  • 5,000 t
  • 11,000,000 lb
Launch history
Launch sites
Capacity
Payload to low Earth orbit
Mass
  • 150 t
  • 330,000 lb
Volume
  • 1,000 m³
  • 35,000 ft³
Payload to Moon
Mass
  • 100 t
  • 220,000 lb
Volume
  • 1,000 m³
  • 35,000 ft³
Payload to Mars
Mass
  • 100 t
  • 220,000 lb
Volume
  • 1,000 m³
  • 35,000 ft³
Stages information
First stage – Super Heavy
Height
  • 71 m
  • 232 ft
Diameter
  • 9 m
  • 30 ft
Empty mass
  • 200 t
  • 440,000 lb
Gross mass
  • 3,600 t
  • 7,900,000 lb
Propellant mass
  • 3,400 t
  • 7,500,000 lb
Powered by
Maximum thrust
  • 74,500,000 N
  • 7,590 Tf
  • 16,700,000 lbf
Propellant
Second stage – Starship
Height
  • 50 m
  • 164 ft
Diameter
  • 9 m
  • 30 ft
Empty mass
  • 100 t
  • 220,000 lb
Gross mass
  • 1,300 t
  • 2,900,000 lb
Propellant mass
  • 1,200 t
  • 2,650,000 lb
Powered by
Maximum thrust
  • 14,700,000 N
  • 1,500 Tf
  • 3,300,000 lbf
Propellant
[edit on Wikidata]

Starship is a fully-reusable rocket made out of stainless steel, in development by SpaceX. Both of its stages – Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft – contains liquid oxygen and liquid methane. Starship would launch upright, with the booster's thirty-three Raptor engines operating in parallel. After Super Heavy separates, the spacecraft fires three of its Raptor Vacuum engines, inserting itself to orbit. The booster then controls its descent via grid fins and targets the launch tower's arms. At the mission's end, the Starship spacecraft enters the atmosphere, protected by a series of hexagon heat shield tiles. The spacecraft glides using its flaps, flips up, and fires three of its Raptor engine to land upright.

Starship's main features are its very high capability and low operating cost. The rocket will launch at Starbase, Kennedy Space Center, and two offshore launch platforms. The spacecraft tanker variant can refuel spacecraft in space, increasing its 100 t (220,000 lb) transport range to the Moon and Mars. Other spacecraft variants can deploy satellites, serve space tourists, and explore the Moon. Starship's low cost might enable SpaceX's Mars ambitions and make point-to-point rocket travel on Earth possible.

The rocket was first outlined by SpaceX since as early as 2005, with frequent designs and names changes later on. In July 2019, Starhopper, a prototype vehicle with extended fins, performed a 150 m (490 ft) low altitude test flight. In May 2021, Starship SN15 flew to 10 km (6 mi) and landed, after four failed attempts by previous prototypes. As of January 2022, the BN4 booster and SN20 spacecraft may launch around early 2022.

History

Main article: SpaceX Starship development

Design

White sleek rocket in flight
SpaceX illustration of the 2016 Interplanetary Transport System
White rocket in flight with fins at the middle
SpaceX illustration of the 2018 Big Falcon Rocket in flight

In November 2005, SpaceX first referenced a rocket concept with Starship's capabilities. It was going to have a larger version of the Merlin engine called Merlin 2. The rocket would have been able to lift about 100 t (220,000 lb) to low Earth orbit, but it was not mentioned to be reusable.[1] The company had internal plans for another rocket called the Mars Colonial Transporter. Although little information is made public, it was known that the rocket would be powered by the Raptor engine, fueled by liquid methane. The rocket would have been able to carry 100 people or 100 t (220,000 lb) of cargo to Mars.[2]

Just before the 67th International Astronautical Congress in September 2016, the sea level-optimized Raptor engine was first fired.[3] There, Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and Chief Engineer, announced the Interplanetary Transport System. It was to be a fully-reusable carbon-composite rocket and able to put 300 t (660,000 lb) to low Earth orbit. The rocket would use the Raptor engines and burn liquid methane and oxygen. Spacecraft in orbit could fuel each other, giving them propellant for further destinations.[4] Funding for the Interplanetary Transport System was not explained, even though the presentation mentioned its cheap launch cost.[5]

In September 2017, Musk announced a revised rocket called the Big Falcon Rocket. It was planned to be 106 m (348 ft) tall and 9 m (30 ft) wide and would have been able to launch 150 t (330,000 lb) to low Earth orbit. The booster engine count was reduced to thirty-one, and the spacecraft to six.[6] The Big Falcon Rocket could ferry crew to Mars, clean up space debris, land on the Moon, and travel between locations on Earth.[7] After the talk, Musk clarified on Reddit that the delta wing heat shield was used to get more orientation control.[8]

In September 2018, the dearMoon project to be funded by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa was announced. Maezawa, along with six to eight other artists, was to fly a free-return trajectory around the Moon to create artworks. There, Musk presented a revised design that would have been 106 m (348 ft) tall and the same 9 m (30 ft) wide. Its spacecraft would have seven Raptor engines at its bottom, along with two forward flaps at the top and three aft flaps at the bottom. The spacecraft's flaps could move to control the spacecraft's descent. Moreover, the aft flaps could be used as landing legs.[9] Two months later, in November 2018, the booster was first termed Super Heavy and the spacecraft was renamed Starship.[10]

Prototyping

See also: List of SpaceX Starship launches

SpaceX's development approach is iterative and incremental,[11] by building and launching many tanks and prototypes to collect data and refine its design, similar to Falcon 9 development.[12] These prototypes are usually subjected to proof pressure tests before flight, by filling with a fluid and check its strength. After more rehearsals are completed, prototypes perform a static fire. Vehicles after passing these tests are going to either fly near Earth or launch to orbit.[13]: 15–19  These tests and flights have received attention from news correspondents, such as spaceflight news site NASASpaceFlight.com and science communicator Tim Dodd.[14] Musk has made many predictions about the development rate of Starship, most of which have been too optimistic.[15]

The development work on the two-stage launch vehicle design has been nearly entirely privately funded by SpaceX.[16] The entire project is possible only as a result of SpaceX's multi-faceted approach focusing on the reduction of launch costs. However, the speed of commercially available Mars transport for both cargo and humans will be driven, in large part, by market demand as well as constrained by the technology development and development funding.[17]

Starhopper–SN6: Low-altitude flights

Short steel rocket with its fins touching the ground
Starhopper while in construction
Crane hooking onto a steel vessel body
A crane lifting Starship SN5

Starhopper was the first prototype to operate a Raptor methane rocket engine.[18] The vehicle was equipped with a Raptor engine and three non-retractable legs.[19] It was noticeably shorter than a Starship spacecraft. Starhopper performed two tethered hops in early April 2019 and hopped untethered up to 20–30 m (70–100 ft) two months later, doing a controlled hover at a low speed.[20] In August 2019, the vehicle hopped to 150 m (500 ft) and traveled to the landing pad 100 m (300 ft) away.[21] As of August 2021, the vehicle is retired and repurposed as radio communication, weather, ground station, and water tank at Starbase.[19]

SpaceX then constructed Starship Mk1 at Starbase and Starship Mk2 at the SpaceX facility in Cocoa, Florida. In late September 2019, Musk presented more detail the booster, the spacecraft's method to control its descent, its heat shield, orbital refilling feature, and potential destinations outside Mars.[22] The spacecraft design once again changed, reducing the three aft flaps to two. Musk mentioned stainless steel would replace carbon composites, because of lower cost, high melting point, strength at cryogenic temperature, and ease of manufacturing.[23] Mk1 was destroyed during a pressure stress test two months later[24] and Mk2 did not fly because the Florida facility was deconstructed throughout 2020.[25]

In January 2020 SpaceX purchased two drilling rigs from Valaris plc for $3.5 million each during their bankruptcy proceedings, planning to repurpose them as offshore spaceports.[26] After the Mark series, SpaceX named subsequent prototypes with the prefix "SN".[27] No prototypes between SN1 and SN4 flew: SN1 along with SN3 collapsed during proof pressure test and SN4 exploded after its fifth engine firing.[19] During the interval, the company accelerated the construction of manufacturing and support infrastructure at Starbase, including large tents, stations, and repurposed intermodal containers. When linked together, these facilities act as a production line, making Starship construction quicker.[28]

In June 2020 the first orbital launch pad was constructed.[29] Around the time, Starship SN5 was built with a distinctive cylindrical shape, as no flaps or nose cones are attached. The test vehicle only consisted of one Raptor engine, full-size propellant tanks, and a mass on top. SN5 performed a 150 m (500 ft)-high hop on 5 August 2020, successfully landing on a nearby pad.[30] On 3 September, Starship SN6 repeated the hop.[31] A week later, SpaceX pressure stress-tested SN7.1 tank, switching from SAE 301 stainless steel grade in prior prototypes to SAE 304L stainless steel grade used on later prototypes.[32] In the same September, the company first fired its Raptor Vacuum engine.[33]

SN8–SN15: High-altitude flights

Steel rocket on a mount
Starship SN9 on a mount with its flaps closed
Play media
Animation depicting a successful test flight, following flight profile of SN8 to SN15

SN8 was the first complete Starship prototype and underwent four static fire tests between October and November 2020. The third test ingested fragments of pad material into engine internals, causing an earlier shutdown.[19] The fourth test was successful, and on 9 December 2020 SN8 flew, reaching an altitude of 12.5 km (7.8 mi) before performing the belly flop maneuver. Just before touchdown, an issue related to propellant flow caused the prototype to lose thrust and impact the pad.[34] The test provoked condemnation from FAA Associate Administrator Wayne Monteith, as SpaceX had ignored FAA warnings that weather conditions at the time could have exacerbated damage from a possible in-flight explosion to nearby homes.[35]

Two months later, on 2 February 2021, Starship SN9 launched on an almost identical flight path. It crashed on landing. Both SN8 and SN9 flights had been under scrutiny from FAA, as debris from the explosion endangered the surrounding area.[36] In March 2021, the company submitted a public construction plan, which would have two sub-orbital launch pads, two orbital launch pads, two landing pads, two test stands, and a large tank farm that stores propellant. The company proposed the incorporation of surrounding Boca Chica Village into a city named Starbase,[37] raising concerns about SpaceX's authority, power, and potential abuse for eviction.[38]

On 3 March 2021, after an abort three hours earlier, Starship SN10 traveled the same flight path. The vehicle then crushed its legs and landed successfully. Minutes later, SN10 exploded, possibly due to a propellant tank rupture.[39] After approval from the FAA,[40] on 30 March 2021, Starship SN11 flew into thick fog along the same flight path. The vehicle exploded during descent, scattering debris up to 8 km (5 mi) away.[41] In early April 2021, the first tank was placed into the fuel farm for the first orbital launch pad.[29] During the same time, NASA selected Starship HLS as the crewed lunar lander.[42] The decision was disputed by Blue Origin and sparked a six-month-long dispute, titled Blue Origin v. United States & Space Exploration Technologies Corp.[43]

SN12, SN13, and SN14 were not fully assembled. Instead, various improvements to vehicle structure, software, and engines were featured on SN15. The vehicle flew on 5 May 2021, did the same maneuvers as prior prototypes, and landed, completing the first successful mission.[44] One day later, the FAA stated that the then under-construction launch tower at Starbase might complicate its environmental assessment.[45]

SN20–: Orbital launches

Workers near a tall spacecraft with heat shield
Examination of Starship SN20's heat shield
Steel rocket firing its engines
Engine firing of Starship SN20 near Super Heavy boosters and launch tower

In July 2021, Super Heavy BN3 first fired three of its engines.[46] Super Heavy BN4 was the first that can mate to Starships, while Starship SN20 was the first to feature a body-tall heat shield, mostly made of black hexagonal heat tiles. A month later, SN20 stacked atop BN4, the first pair of vehicles to be so stacked.[47] In October 2021, the catching mechanical arm was installed onto the first launch tower, forming the recovery system, and the last tank insulation cover was installed, marking the completion of the first tank farm.[29]

On 26 November 2021, a day after Thanksgiving in the United States, Musk sent an internal email to all SpaceX employees claiming that the Raptor engine's production line was not sufficiently mature, thus creating a risk of bankruptcy for the company.[48] Two weeks later, just north of Launch Complex 39B, NASA announced the new Launch Complex 49 that will launch Starship at the Kennedy Space Center.[49]

SpaceX explained the planned trajectory of the first orbital flight of the Starship system in a report sent to the Federal Communications Commission. The rocket is planned to launch from Starbase, then Super Heavy will separate and do a soft landing around 30 km (20 mi) from the Texan shoreline. The spacecraft will continue flying with its ground track passing through the Straits of Florida, and then softly land around 100 km (60 mi) northwest from the island of Kauai. The whole spaceflight will last ninety minutes.[50][51]

Description

Starship is designed to be a fully-reusable orbital rocket, with the aim of reducing launch cost drastically.[52] One launch may deliver more than 100 t (220,000 lb) to low Earth orbit, which would formally classify the rocket as a super heavy-lift launch vehicle.[53] When stacked and fueled, Starship may be about 5,000 t (11,000,000 lb) by mass,[55] 9 m (30 ft) wide,[56] and 120 m (390 ft) high,[57] taller than the Saturn V by 9 m (30 ft).[58] The rocket will consist of a Super Heavy first stage or booster and a Starship second stage or spacecraft.[59] powered by many Raptor and Raptor Vacuum engines.[12] These rocket stages' reusability and stainless-steel construction has influenced other rockets such as the Terran R[60] and Project Jarvis.[61]

Raptor engine

Main article: SpaceX Raptor
A rocket engine with nozzle and intricate plumbing
Sea level-optimized Raptor engine
Rocket engine firing with purple-orange flame
First test firing of the sea-level Raptor engine, with methane combusted to produce a purple-orange flame

Raptor is a family of rocket engines, combusting liquid oxygen and methane in a full-flow staged combustion cycle.[62] SpaceX plans to make three versions of Raptor: sea level-optimized engine with gimbaled thrust, sea level-optimized engine without gimbaled thrust, and vacuum-optimized engine without gimbaled thrust.[12] The whole family uses a new alloy and can obtain 300 bar (4,400 psi) inside the main combustion chamber. These engines can fire many times,[62] with their nozzles cooled by surrounding running propellant, called regenerative cooling.[12] Further into the future, the engine family may be mass-produced.[62]

SpaceX builds many other versions of Raptor. The company specifies the Raptor engine has the ratio of throat area to exit area of 1:34.[63] Another is the Raptor Vacuum, designed to be fired in space. It is equipped with a nozzle extension made from brazed steel tubes, increasing the throat area to exit area to 1:90 and specific impulse or fuel efficiency to 380 seconds. The Raptor 2 is the next generation of the family; the engine may produce 2.3 MN (520,000 lbf) of thrust, with its specific impulse reduced by 3 seconds.[12]

The Raptor family is the only full-flow staged combustion cycle engine currently in production. In the past, the Soviet Union and United States had tried to construct such an engine, but both product has never being in use.[62] A general full-flow staged combustion cycle engine has two preburners connected to their matching turbopumps.[64] One of the preburners is fed with an oxygen-rich mixture and the other is fed with a propellant-rich mixture, combusting a small amount to spin the matching turbines. The cycle then feeds all gaseous propellant mixture into the combustion chamber, unlike other engine cycles wasting some propellant. This increases the engine's chamber pressure, making more thrust and be more efficient.[62]

Methane was chosen for the Raptor engines since it may be cheaper, does not accumulate soot,[62] can be produced on Mars via the Sabatier reaction,[65] among other reasons.[62] The engines run at slightly more methane at oxygen to methane mass ratio of 3.6 : 1,[63] as combusting a stoichiometric mixture of 4 : 1 would overheat and damage them.[12] The exhausts contain carbon dioxide and water, with a trace amount of carbon monoxide and nitric oxide. The plume stretches about 65 m (213 ft) at full power,[63] longer than the Starship spacecraft by about 15 m (49 ft).[66] When clustered inside a rocket stage, inner engines' plumes do not interact with the air right away, so the cluster's plume may be much longer.[63]

Super Heavy booster

Left to right: Engines, oxygen tank and downcomer, methane tank, grid fins, stage mount
Side view, with tanks, domes, and weld seams visible. Downcomer is placed in the center axis.

Super Heavy is a booster or first stage, located at the bottom of the rocket. The booster measures 70 m (230 ft) tall,[56] housing up to 33 sea level-optimized Raptor engines. The engine cluster may be more than twice as powerful as the Saturn V.[67] The booster's tanks can hold 3,600 t (7,900,000 lb) of propellant, consisting of 2,800 t (6,200,000 lb) of liquid oxygen and 800 t (1,800,000 lb) of liquid methane. Without propellant, Super Heavy's dry mass is estimated to range between 160 t (350,000 lb) to 200 t (440,000 lb).[12]

The booster is equipped with four grid fins, each with a mass of 3 t (6,600 lb). These grid fins are not spaced evenly for obtaining more pitch control and can only rotate in the roll axis.[12] They may control the booster's descent and work as a mounting point for touchdown into the tower's mechanical arms. Though catching Super Heavy require great precision, this may reduce the turnaround time after landing and enable more frequent launches.[68] To control the booster's orientation, it may fire cold gas thrusters fed by evaporated propellant inside tanks. While Super Heavy and Starship are attached in space, the booster may move its engines and rotate the rocket. Because of the conservation of angular momentum, when the latches are released, the booster may separate from the spacecraft.[12]

Super Heavy at launch may make more than 115 dB A-weighted at up to a 3.7 km (2.3 mi) radius, and up to 90 dB A-weighted throughout most of Brownsville, a nearby city,[69] comparable to a lawnmower.[70] For providing context, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration defines 115 dB as the upper limit for exposure within 15 minutes, beyond which hearing damage may occur. Landings may be quieter than launches, as residents of Brownsville may experience noise levels in the range of 60 dB A-weighted,[69] comparable to the volume of a human conversation.[71]

Starship spacecraft

Left to right: Engine bay and aft flaps, oxygen main tank, methane header tank, methane main tank, payload volume and forward flaps, oxygen header tank
Side view, with tanks, domes, and weld seams visible. Header tanks are placed in the center axis.

Starship is a spacecraft and a second stage, located at the top of the booster. The spacecraft is 50 m (160 ft) tall,[56] with a dry mass of less than 100 t (220,000 lb).[12] By refueling the Starship spacecraft using additional Starship tanker spacecraft, Starship may carry payloads and astronauts to higher Earth orbits, the Moon, Mars, and other destinations in the Solar System.[59]

The spacecraft has two main and two header tanks,[72] for a total of 1,200 t (2,600,000 lb) capacity.[54] Each main and header tank contain a type of propellant, either liquid oxygen or methane. The main tanks are used to launch to destination, while the header tanks are used to flip and land the spacecraft.[72] At the bottom of Starship are six Raptor engines, with three operate in the atmosphere and the other three Raptor Vacuum may operate in space.[12]

The spacecraft has four body flaps to control the spacecraft's falling velocity and orientation, with two forward flaps mounted near the nose cone and two aft flaps mounted near the bottom.[19] Starship's heat shield is designed to be used multiple times with no maintenance between flights.[52] It is composed from thousands of hexagon tiles,[47] each mounted and spaced to counteract expansion due to heat.[52] The shape of these tiles prevents hot plasma from causing damage, allowing it to withstand temperatures of 1,400 °C (2,600 °F).[73]

Starship payload volume may be as large as 1,000 m3 (35,000 cu ft), far larger than any other spacecraft.[53] The spacecraft nose cone as of August 2021 is made from two rows of stretch-formed steel.[12] The spacecraft's landing may make more than 60 dB A-weighted at Brownsville, similar to Super Heavy landing's noise level and considerably lower than rocket liftoff.[69]

Generic variants

End-to-end docking with acceleration or side-to-side docking with unknown mechanism.
Two possible ways Starship tanker may refuel

The cargo variant of the Starship spacecraft may feature a large door replacing conventional payload fairings, which can launch, store, capture, and return payloads. The payload door would be closed during launch, opened to release its payload once in orbit, and closed again during reentry. It may be possible to mount the payload to the inside of the payload bay's sidewalls using trunnions, more suitable for payloads in ride-share missions. Payloads may be integrated to a vertical rocket inside temperature-controlled, ISO class 8 clean air.[74]

The crew variant of the Starship spacecraft may be adapted for missions to the Moon, Mars, point-to-point flights, and other destinations. Each spacecraft can carry one hundred people, with "private cabins, large common areas, centralized storage, solar storm shelters and a viewing gallery".[59]

The tanker variant of the Starship spacecraft may refuel other spacecraft in orbit. According to Musk, up to seven launches of the spacecraft variant are needed to send a spacecraft to the Moon.[53] The concept is detailed by Musk in September 2019, by docking both spacecraft end to each other. Both then accelerate slightly toward the tanker using control thrusters, settling propellant to the fueled Starship.[54] In October 2020, NASA awarded SpaceX US$53.2 million to conduct a large-scale flight demonstration to transfer 10 metric tons of cryogenic propellant between the tanks of two Starship vehicles.[75]

Lunar variant

Main article: Starship HLS

Starship HLS is a crewed lunar lander variant of the Starship spacecraft for NASA's Artemis program. The lunar lander may have windows and airlocks near the top,[76] along with an elevator and a set of thrusters to land on the Moon surface.[77] The lunar lander may be able to carry large amount of payload between outer space and the Moon. In an Artemis mission, it may launch ahead of the crew by up to a hundred days, accompanied with many other launches of refueling Starship tankers. Another variant of the lunar lander may be used for the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program,[76] where scientific, explorational, and commercial payloads are tasked to send to the Moon.[78]

Although SpaceX has stated its goal of launching Starship HLS in 2024, a NASA Office of Inspector General study in November 2021 found that the lander may not be available until 2028. The estimate is based of average delays of recent major spaceflight programs. The delay is likely worsen because of the four-month long from bid protests from Blue Origin and Dynetics and six-weeks delay from awarding the contract itself.[79]: 14–16  In the study, SpaceX rated Starship HLS's propulsion, communications, and life-support system as demonstrated by prototypes or by the actual system. The Super Heavy booster and propellant fueling function was rated validated only.[79]: 52 

Operations

Mission profile

External video on YouTube
video icon SpaceX Starship Point to Point Transportation
video icon Lunar Starship Animation
video icon Starship Flight To Mars

First, Super Heavy and Starship are stacked onto a launch mount and loaded with propellant.[29] Then, after some time during launch, the stages separate via the conservation of angular momentum.[12] The booster flips its orientation and turns on its center engine cluster returning to the launch site, followed by a controlled descent and landing burn. It is then caught by a pair of mechanical arms, arresting any remaining velocity and repositioning the booster onto the mount, allowing another launch cycle to begin.[80] Meanwhile, the Starship spacecraft accelerates to orbital velocity and circularizes its orbit.[50]

Once in orbit, the spacecraft may be refueled by the Starship tanker variants, by docking both spacecraft ends to each other. Both then accelerate slightly toward the tanker using control thrusters, settling propellant to the fueled Starship.[54] After which, the refueled Starship fires its engines and coast to the destination. For landing on bodies without an atmosphere like the Moon, Starship turns on its engines and thrusters to slow down and land.[74] For other bodies with an atmosphere like Mars, Starship slows down by entering the atmosphere, protected by a heat shield.[47]

After atmospheric entry, Starship performs a belly flop maneuver, defined in a whitepaper as the control of its surface area, leading to the control of aerodynamic drag and terminal velocity.[81] Tim Dodd, American space and science communicator, analyzed the belly flop maneuver and highlighted several advantages over other landing methods. He modeled using a launch simulator that the spacecraft may fall 90 m/s (300 ft/s) at the end of the maneuver, considerably slower than Falcon 9 first stage's 310 m/s (1,000 ft/s) just before firing its engine. The spacecraft does not need to use its engine to slow down in the maneuver, leading to a large propellant saving.[82]

During landing, a thesis analyzed only Starship's header tanks are used, primarily because the spacecraft is in the belly-flop position and main tanks cannot pump and pressurize propellant. The paper further stated the belly flop maneuver may reduce the g-force exerted on astronauts and the propellant needed.[72] A pseudospectral optimal control algorithm predicted that the landing flip may make Starship overshoot the landing point by 100 m (300 ft). It predicted further that the spacecraft would intentionally tilt 20° further from the ground's normal line to guide itself back, and then reduce its tilt to zero on touchdown. During the process, the Raptor engines' throttle may peak to 90% at five seconds after the flip and shortly before touchdown.[81]

Manufacturing

Steel rockets and cylinders laying around
Manufacturing of prototypes
Steel dome
A Starship steel dome

Manufacturing of the Starship rocket starts with rolls of stainless steel[28] of SAE 304L grade.[32] These rolls are unrolled, cut, and welded along the cut edge to create a cylinder. Each of these cylinder are 9 m (30 ft) in diameter, 2 m (7 ft) in height, and around 1,600 kg (4,000 lb) in mass. To make the outer layer of the Starship spacecraft, seventeen of these cylinders and nose cone are stacked, welded along their edges. Inside the body are many domes, separating liquid methane and oxygen tanks at high pressure. Therefore, they are made with robots and welded at the rate of ten-minute per seam. After which, they are inspected by an X-ray machine.[28]

Environmental impact

Starbase with nearby Texas State Highway 4 and undeveloped land

Starship development in Starbase has caused disruption to residents of the Boca Chica Village, Texas. SpaceX has closed roads and beaches to test prototypes, even though it promised the residents would not be affected. They need to deal with debris and noise from tests, forming cracks on buildings. They noted the plan for constructing a natural gas plant at Starbase is vague, making it difficult to access its impact.[83]

Many environmental groups stated the company's development harmed surrounding wetlands, a habitat of many endangered animals, including ocelot, piping plover, and five sea turtles species.[84] If the company is allowed to expand Starbase, red knots and plovers habitats would shrink drastically. The nearby Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge has seen extensive disruption of rocket tests.[85]

If Starship's frequent flights is realized, its effects on climate change would become significant.[86] An environmental assessment by the Federal Aviation Administration estimated a Starship rocket launch may generate 2,000 t (4,400,000 lb) of carbon dioxide equivalent. A Starship spacecraft flight inside the atmosphere and annual venting of methane may generate 45 t (99,000 lb) and 24,000 t (53,000,000 lb) of carbon dioxide equivalent.[13]: 47 

Costs

Starship is intended to become the primary SpaceX orbital vehicle. SpaceX intends to eventually replace its existing Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon 2 fleet with Starship, which is expected to take cargo to orbit at a far lower cost than any other existing launch vehicle.[citation needed] Starship launch cost estimates vary widely, ranging from Musk's $2 million per launch to a satellite market analyst's $10 million.[87] Pierre Lionnet, director of research at Eurospace, stated that launch cost may not play a major role on certain space payloads. He cited the Rosetta space probe and the Philae comet lander as examples. The launch cost of both space probes was only 10% of its mission, while the whole mission cost €1.4 billion, equivalent to $1.86 billion in 2020.[88]

Applications

Satellites

Stacked satellites on Earth backdrop
Sixty Starlink satellites in a Falcon 9, which Starship may to be able to deliver four hundred to orbit.[89]

Starship may enable larger space telescopes, such as the Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission that can directly image planets outside the Solar System.[87] Some planetary science researchers incorporate Starship into their research, citing launch cost and capacity.[90]

Starship is intended to launch the next generation of SpaceX's Starlink communication satellites.[89] A space analyst at Morgan Stanley, a financial services company, stated that Starship along with the Starlink are very intertwined to each other. This is because improvements in launch capacity and cost aid Starlink satellite launches and Starlink profits can be fed back into Starship development.[91] A single orbital launch of Starship could place up to 400 Starlink satellites into orbit, whereas the Falcon 9 flights in 2019 and 2020 launched a maximum of 60 satellites per flight.[92]

An analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think-tank wrote possible military-use cases of Starship. One of them is the deployment of military satellites, replacing ones destroyed by anti-satellite weapons. Another is the launch of many reconnaissance satellites to fill gaps if larger satellites in a higher orbit were destroyed.[93] Waleed Abdalati, a former NASA Chief Scientist, stated the rocket may enable recovery of space debris, which are defunct artificial objects in space.[88]

Robotic exploration

According to NASA's Ames Research Center, since Starship may have a large capacity, it may bring heavy machinery to destinations in space, such as drilling rigs on the surface of bodies. The mission may enable much more comprehensive research of their interiors and underground resources, which previous rockets would not be able to do so at a reasonable cost.[53] Starship may enable large experiments and sample-return missions of Moon and Mars rock. These missions could be integrated into SpaceX's test landings of the spacecraft[88] and designed to go to various locations of interest. Such a mission may answer many unsolved problems in astronomy, such as past volcanism on the Moon or extraterrestrial life.[53]

A scouting mission proposed using Starship to visit the Neptunian system, accompanying a lander on its moon Triton with a telescope to study the outer Solar System and exoplanets in other stars. Another was proposed to launch a space probe orbiting around Io, a moon of Jupiter, which is difficult because of the mission's demand for shielding from intense radiation and large delta-v budget or range. Even further, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research researching on using solar sails to travel between the stars proposed a mission riding on a Starship cruising to Mars.[53]

Human travel

Large steel rocket with armed and medical forces around
Illustration of a Rocket Cargo operation, with a rocket similarly shaped to Starship

One potential use for Starship is space tourism. An example is the dearMoon project announced by Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa. The project may perform a flight around the Moon with Starship, with its crew consists of Maezawa and eight others. The other crews are selected via video submissions with applicants ranging from dancers, actors, photographers, artists, to athletes.[94]

A NASA Office of Inspector General report details how Starship HLS lunar lander may integrate into an Artemis human lunar mission. The lander may be accompanied by Starship tankers and Starship propellant depot variants. The tankers transfer propellant to a depot till it is full, then the depot fuels Starship HLS. By doing so, the lunar lander has enough thrust to place itself to into a lunar orbit. Then, the crews on board Orion spacecraft are launched with the Space Launch System. Orion then docks with Starship HLS and the crews transfer into the lander. After landing and returning, the lunar crews transfer back to Orion and returns to Earth.[79]

The spacecraft may facilitate point-to-point flights – coined "Earth to Earth" by SpaceX – by traveling between spaceports on Earth. The company estimated a 39 minutes flight time between New York City and Shanghai via this mode of transport. SpaceX president and chief operating officer, Gwynne Shotwell, predicted it could become cost-competitive with business class travel.[95] John Logsdon, an academic on space policy and history, stated point-to-point travel would have high acceleration, thus making it impractical for civilians.[96] The Rocket Cargo program by United States Space Force as of December 2021 is researching on this mode of transport.[97]

The Starship vehicle design has been criticized for not adequately protecting astronauts from ionizing radiation on interplanetary missions;[98][99] Musk has stated that he believes the transit time to Mars will be too insignificant for a crewed Mars mission, saying "it's not too big of a deal."[98][100][101] The lifetime cancer risk increase caused by the dose incurred on a multi‑year Mars mission has been estimated to amount to a 5% increase in total cancer risk, a number which can be greatly reduced through simple shielding measures.[102] Responding to these criticisms, Musk's 2017 revision included a solar storm shelter.[101][103]

Colonization

Main article: SpaceX Mars program

SpaceX has stated its goal is to colonize Mars for long-term survival of the human species. Musk's timeline of the program is considered optimistic by many. Greg Autry, a space policy expert, stated that such a mission might not happen before 2029, even with aid from NASA.[104]

The Sabatier reaction may be used to create liquid methane and liquid oxygen on Mars in a power-to-gas plant, fueling return missions.[65] The reaction works by exposing carbon dioxide and hydrogen to a catalyst at temperatures above 375 °C (700 °F) at high pressure. Carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas can be obtained from Mars's atmosphere and ice, while the catalyst used may be nickel or ruthenium. The reaction is very energy inefficient, requiring an extensive thermal management system, and the resultant methane must be purified before use.[105]

Facilities

SpaceX is building many launch sites, including Launch Complex 39A of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, their offshore platforms, and their Starbase facility.[106] Starbase, located east of Brownsville in southern Texas, serves as Starship's primary spaceport, factory, and host of all Starship test flights as of December 2021.[53] As of August 2021, Shyamal Patel is the Director of Starship Operations.[12]

Starbase

Main article: SpaceX Starbase
Sites at Starbase
Construction bays for Starship
Starbase build site entrance, inside are bays and steel rings
Black facility with red STARBASE word at side
STAR­GATE facility
Spaceport in construction
Starbase launch site, with the fuel farm, launch tower, and cranes visible

Starbase consists of a manufacturing facility and launch site,[107] both operate around the clock,[28] with at most 450 full-time employees who may be onsite.[13]: 24  The site hosted the STARGATE facility of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Part of the facility is used by SpaceX itself for Starship development, while most are used by the university for the study and research of space technologies.[108] The site is planned to consist of two launch complexes, two payload processing facilities, a desalination plant, a natural gas power plant, a natural gas purifier, a liquefier, and a solar farm.[13]: 30–34 

A launch complex at Starbase consists of a launch pad, a launch tower, and a tank farm. The launch pad contains a water sound suppression system and twenty clamps, holding down the booster until launch.[29] The launch tower consists of steel truss sections and a lightning rod on top,[109] while a pair of mechanical arms may catch and recover it.[110] Each tank farm consists of eight tanks: three for liquid oxygen, two for liquid methane, two for liquid nitrogen, and one for water.[29] Other tanks surrounding the area contain all other commodities, such as methane, oxygen, nitrogen, helium, and hydraulic fluid.[13]: 13 

Kennedy Space Center

See also: Kennedy Space Center

The Kennedy Space Center is planned to have Starship launch pads at Launch Complex 39A and Launch Complex 49, north of Launch Complex 39C. The Launch Complex 39A had hosted Saturn V and Space Shuttle flights, while the Launch Complex 39C were planned to be built north of Launch Complex 39A and 39B to support Saturn V flights. The Launch Complex 49 has been under consideration since at least 2014 and as of December 2021 under environmental review by NASA. If either launch site is to be built, Starship may need space inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. The building is divided into four high bays, with three reserved for the Space Launch System. The remaining high bay may be used to build Super Heavy and Starship, with both stages stacked at the launch pad.[111]

Phobos and Deimos

Main article: SpaceX Starship offshore platforms
Platform containing cranes and machinery supported by four legs
ENSCO 8506, very similar to Phobos and Deimos when bought

Phobos and Deimos are offshore platforms in construction for launching Starship at sea. They were previously Valaris 8501 and Valaris 8500 respectively—were oil drilling rigs owned by Valaris plc.[26] Their main decks measure 78 m (260 ft) long by 73 m (240 ft) wide, with a helicopter deck on top of one of their corners. Four columns extrude at each corner at the bottom, measuring 15 m (49 ft) long and 14 m (46 ft) wide each.[112]

Others

A SpaceX facility at McGregor, Texas is used to test Raptor engines before delivery to Starbase. It has a vertical test stand for firing the Raptor engine, along with a horizontal test stand for firing Raptor and Raptor Vacuum. The facility has other stands for testing various engines and rocket stages, including Falcon 9 stages, Falcon Heavy stages, Merlin engines, and future reaction control thrusters on Starship. In the past, the McGregor facility hosted test flights of Grasshopper and F9R Dev1, first stages used for landing tests. SpaceX's main factory at Hawthorne, California is producing the Raptor Vacuum and experimental designs. Another factory near the McGregor facility is in construction as of September 2021, which will make Raptor 2 engines.[113]

Another SpaceX facility at Cocoa, Florida near the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as of April 2021 manufactured heat shield tiles for Starship. The facility consists of a two-bay warehouse, spray booth, abrasive blasting area, gas station, silica purification station, wastewater evaporator, plasma cutter, and water jet cutter. In the past, the site hosted construction of Starship Mk2, a prototype built in competition with Starbase.[25]

See also

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External links

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