Starship

Starship prototype SN20 at the suborbital launch site. The distinctive stainless steel structure is visible as well as the edges of the dark thermal protection tiles that cover the other side of the vehicle.
Manufacturer	SpaceX
Country of origin	United States
Operator	SpaceX
Applications	Crew and cargo interplanetary transport Refueling operations Point-to-point transport on Earth
Website	www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/
Specifications
Spacecraft type	Crewed, reusable
Launch mass	1,300 t (2,866,000 lb)[a]
Dry mass	~100 t (220,000 lb)[2]
Crew capacity	Up to 100 (planned)
Volume	1,000 m3 (35,000 cu ft)
Dimensions
Height	50.3 m (165 ft)
Diameter	9 m (30 ft)
Wingspan	17 m (56 ft)
Capacity
Payload to LEO[1]
Mass	Reusable: 100–150 t (220,000–331,000 lb) Expendable: Up to 250 t (551,000 lb)
Production
Status	In development
Launched	3
Retired	3
Failed	1 (IFT-2)
Lost	2 (IFT-1, IFT-3)
Maiden launch	April 20, 2023
Related spacecraft
Derivatives	Starship HLS
Flown with	SpaceX Super Heavy
Starship
Powered by	3 Raptor engines 3 Raptor vacuum engines
Maximum thrust	1,500 tf (14,700 kN; 3,310,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	327 s (3.21 km/s) (sea-level) 363 s (3.56 km/s) (vacuum)[3]
Propellant	Liquid oxygen / Methane

Starship is a spacecraft and second stage^[1] under development by American aerospace company SpaceX. Stacked atop its booster, Super Heavy, it composes the identically named Starship super heavy-lift space vehicle. The spacecraft is designed to transport both crew and cargo to a variety of destinations, including Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and potentially beyond. It is intended to enable long duration interplanetary flights for a crew of up to 100 people.^[1] It will also be capable of point-to-point transport on Earth, enabling travel to anywhere in the world in less than an hour. Furthermore, the spacecraft will be used to refuel other Starship vehicles to allow them to reach higher orbits to and other space destinations. Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, estimated in a tweet that 8 launches would be needed to completely refuel a Starship in low Earth orbit, extrapolating this from Starship's payload to orbit and how much fuel a fully fueled Starship contains.^[4] To land on bodies without an atmosphere, such as the Moon, Starship will fire its engines and thrusters to slow down.^[5]

Development began in 2012, when Elon Musk described a plan to build a reusable rocket system with substantially greater capabilities than the Falcon 9 and the planned Falcon Heavy. The rocket evolved through many design and name changes. On July 25, 2019, the Starhopper prototype performed the first successful flight at SpaceX Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas.^[6] The SN15 prototype became the first full-size test spacecraft to take off and land successfully in May 2021.^[7] On April 20, 2023, Ship 24 and Booster 7 lifted off the pad, the first time the booster and Starship flew together as a fully integrated stack. On November 18, 2023, Ship 25 and Booster 9 launched, successfully completing hot staging, during the launch, Ship 25 passed the Karman Line, becoming the first Starship to reach space, and also became the heaviest object to ever reach space, before exploding at 148 km.^{[8][9][10][11][12]} On March 14, 2024, Ship 28 and Booster 10 lifted off the pad, successfully achieving its second hot-stage separation, as well as a full-duration ascent burn of the second stage. S28 then proceeded to reenter Earth's atmosphere at orbital velocity, disintegrating during reentry 49 minutes after launch.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18]}

History

In November 2005, before SpaceX had launched its first rocket the Falcon 1, CEO Elon Musk first mentioned a long-term and high-capacity rocket concept able to launch 100 tons to low Earth orbit, dubbed the BFR. Later in 2012, Elon Musk first publicly announced plans to develop a rocket surpassing the capabilities of their existing Falcon 9. SpaceX called it the Mars Colonial Transporter, as the rocket was to transport humans to Mars and back.

In 2016, Elon changed the name to Interplanetary Transport System, as he planned the rocket to travel beyond Mars. Made of carbon fiber, this design was to mass over 10,000 tons when fueled and carry 300 tonnes to low Earth orbit, while hoping to be fully reusable. By 2017, the rocket was temporarily re-dubbed the BFR and had multiple versions announced, such as cargo, tanker and crew. In 2019, the current stainless-steel design was adopted.

Design

The Starship spacecraft is 50 m (160 ft) tall, 9 m (30 ft) in diameter, and has 6 Raptor engines, 3 of which are optimized for usage in outer space.^[19][20] Future vehicles may have an additional 3 Raptor Vacuum engines for increased payload capacity. The vehicle's payload bay, measuring 17 m (56 ft) tall by 8 m (26 ft) in diameter, is the largest of any active or planned launch vehicle; its internal volume of 1,000 m³ (35,000 cu ft) is slightly larger than the ISS's pressurized volume.^[21] SpaceX will also provide a 22 m (72 ft) tall payload bay configuration for even larger payloads.^[22]

Starship has a total propellant capacity of 1,200 t (2,600,000 lb)^[23] across its main tanks and header tanks.^[24] The header tanks are better insulated due to their position and are reserved for use to flip and land the spacecraft following reentry.^[25] A set of reaction control thrusters, which use the pressure in the fuel tank, control attitude while in space.^[26]

The spacecraft has four body flaps to control the spacecraft's orientation and help dissipate energy during atmospheric entry,^[27] composed of two forward flaps and two aft flaps. 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 do not exist (for example, Mars).^[28]: 1 Under the forward flaps, hardpoints are used for lifting and catching the spacecraft via mechanical arms.^[29] The flap's hinges are sealed in aero-covers because they would be easily damaged during reentry.^[2]

Starship's heat shield, composed of thousands^[30] of hexagonal black tiles that can withstand temperatures of 1,400 °C (2,600 °F),^[31][32] is designed to be used many times without maintenance between flights.^[33] The tiles are made of silica^[34] and are attached with pins rather than glued,^[32] with small gaps in between to counteract heat expansion.^[2] Their hexagonal shape facilitates mass production^[2] and prevents hot plasma from causing severe damage to the vehicle.

Variants

For satellite launch, Starship will have a large cargo door that will open to release payloads and close upon reentry instead of a more conventional jettisonable nosecone fairing. Instead of a cleanroom, payloads are integrated directly into Starship's payload bay, which requires purging the payload bay with temperature-controlled ISO class 8 clean air.^[22] To deploy Starlink satellites, the cargo door will be replaced with a slot and dispenser rack, whose mechanism has been compared to a Pez candy dispenser.^[35]

Crewed Starship vehicles would replace the cargo bay with a pressurized crew section and have a life-support system. For long-duration missions, such as crewed flights to Mars, SpaceX describes the interior as potentially including "private cabins, large communal areas, centralized storage, solar storm shelters, and a viewing gallery".^[22] Starship's life support system is expected to recycle resources such as air and water from waste.^[36]

Starship Human Landing System (HLS) is a crewed lunar lander variant of the Starship vehicle that is extensively modified for landing, operation, and takeoff from the lunar surface. It features modified landing legs, a body-mounted solar array, a set of thrusters mounted mid-body to assist with final landing and takeoff, two airlocks, and an elevator to lower crew and cargo onto the lunar surface. Starship HLS will be able to land more than 100 t (220,000 lb) of payload on the Moon per flight.^[37]

Starship will 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,^[b] such as geosynchronous orbit, the Moon, and Mars.^[38] A Starship propellant depot could cache methane and oxygen on-orbit and will be used by Starship HLS to replenish its fuel tanks.^[39]

Development

Videos of Starship flight tests
From NASASpaceFlight.com and SpaceX
Starhopper 150m hop
Starship SN5 150m hop
Starship SN6 150m hop
Starship SN8 12.5km test flight
Starship SN9 10km test flight
Starship SN10 10km test flight
Starship SN11 10km test flight
Starship SN15 10km test flight
Starship S24/B7 integrated test flight
Starship S25/B9 integrated test flight
Starship S28/B10 integrated test flight

Starship's development is iterative and incremental, using frequent—and often destructive— tests on a series of rocket prototypes.^[40][32][41]

SpaceX prototypes are subjected to several tests before they can be launched. Pressure tests come first, during which the tanks are filled with a liquid or gas to test their strength and safety factor. SpaceX tests some tanks beyond the specified limit, to find the point at which they burst. After engine installation, vehicles undergo static fire testing, during where the engines fire while the vehicle is preventing from lifting off. After passing these tests, a prototype vehicle will launch, either flying within the atmosphere, or attempt to reach orbit.^{[42]: 15–19}