By Dylan Gronley October 1, 2019 8:46AM EDT
If you haven’t been keeping up with SpaceX’s news, don’t worry! I’ve got you covered.
Following the launch of the Falcon Heavy,
(the one in 2018 where founder Elon Musk launched his red Tesla Roadster into space)
SpaceX enthusiasts were keen to know what the revolutionary space company had planned next.
Fortunately for us, there had already been some talk going on about the next project in the works, the BFR short for, “Big Falcon Rocket”, or something else, as fans have called it.
Either way we knew it was going to be much bigger and much more powerful, words the space industry hasn’t seen too much of since the Saturn V moon rocket retired in May of 1973.
Musk gave us a glimpse in 2017:
Falcon Heavy
The Falcon Heavy is currently the most powerful rocket in the world, capable of bringing payloads weighing 140,660 lbs to LEO (Low-Earth Orbit) and produces over 5 MILLION pounds of thrust at liftoff. It also boasts that it can do so at one-third of the cost of its competitors, pretty impressive.
Still, though, it’s not even half of the Saturn V’s capability of 310,000 lbs to LEO.
Check out this great post that compares some other rockets too.
But, that’s okay because it was designed to take large size science and government payloads to LEO and other Earth orbits, not to go to the moon.
That is, however, where the Starship (BFR) comes in.
SpaceX Starship
While initially it was called BFR, Musk announced in November of last year the official name is now Starship.
And while yes, the Starship can go to the moon, it was actually designed to go much further; to Mars and beyond.
So there are two parts to the actual rocket collectively called the “Starship”
Starship Spacecraft
This is the fully reusable second stage of the rocket which may carry up to 100 passengers and has a payload capacity of 100+ tons (200,000 lbs) into space.
The Starship alone has a height of 50 m/160 ft.
Super Heavy
This is the first stage (booster) part of the rocket. It uses 37 Raptor engines to generate over 16 MILLION pounds of thrust at liftoff (compared to Saturn V’s 7.5 million)
It also has a diameter of 30 feet and will return to Earth after bringing the second stage to orbit to be reused.
The height of the Super Heavy first stage is 68 m/223 ft.
Here is the launch animation video provided by SpaceX:
You can see the stainless-steel architecture, which is better than the first-choice material of a carbon-fiber based one, due to its versatility in extreme temperature differences, and the massive decrease in cost per ton;
It also happens to makes it look as if it’s right out of a 1940’s illustration.
What are the plans for Starship?
Looking towards 2020, we will see multiple versions of the Starship being built. SpaceX has plans for multiple operations in both Texas and Florida.
Commercial
The first commercial payloads for Starship will most likely occur in 2021 with a telecommunication satellite as its cargo.
Transport
Another key use of Starship will be to transport people from anywhere on Earth to anywhere on Earth in under an hour.
So no more 18-hour flights to Hong Kong
Try 50 minutes.
Check out the video (same one from Musk’s early glimpse):
Moon
While the main destination is Mars and beyond, the moon remains a likely first goal; considering the proximity and reduced cost.
This may be a good “test-run” and experience before a full-scale mission to Mars.
Mars
This is a definite for Starship and SpaceX.
Musk, and many others, believe that colonizing Mars will be the greatest undertaking in Human exploration yet, finally turning us into a multiplanetary species.
The first flight would probably be unmanned and will drop off initial resources/habitats, then additional flights would bring people to construct living spaces and other facilities.
Thereby setting up the basic infrastructure for a full-blown colony on Mars of millions of people.
Sign me up.
Short Term
Keep an eye out for Starship towards 2020, where they will most likely conduct orbital test flights.
If you haven’t already seen it, here’s Musk’s update on Starship from September 28, 2019.
Starship’s reusability and versatility will allow us to make spaceflight an everyday occurrence and will pave the way for the next step in our history, one where we are among the stars, boldly going where no man (or woman) has gone before.
Community
What do you think of the new design of Starship?
Are you excited about this next step?
Would you use Starship to fly to a different city in under an hour?
Comment your answers below!
As always, thanks for reading.
-Dylan
SpaceX images are all courtesy of SpaceX via Flickr
