SPACEX STARSHIP

About

Starship is a two-stage heavy lift vehicle comprising a Super Heavy booster, and an upper section called the Starship spacecraft.

It is a key part of SpaceX’s plans to send astronauts or cargo to celestial bodies.

Reusability

It is the first rocket which has both reusable stages.

Both the Super Heavy booster and an upper section called the Starship spacecraft can be reused.

Reusable rockets can be up to 65% cheaper to launch than expendable rockets. This is because it's cheaper to refurbish and relaunch a rocket than to build a new one.

Size

The rocket system has a height of around 120 metres.

The greatest rocket event is taller than the 111-metre-long Saturn V, which carried Neil Armstrong to the moon.

Capacity

It has the ability to carry up to 150 metric tonnes to Earth orbit reusable and up to 250 metric tonnes in outer space.

It can carry up to 100 people into orbit.

Power

It is a powerful and complex system. The base of it has 33 engines, all of which are more powerful  than the nine engines found on the Falcon.

The Super Heavy booster packs roughly 10 times the amount of thrust at liftoff than the Falcon rocket.

Configuration

Starship has two configurations, one is for carrying cargo and the other one is for carrying astronauts. 

In the cargo configuration, the payload fairing would be 9 meters i.e. 30 feet and could carry payloads up to 22 meters i.e. 72 feet high.

This would give Starship the largest payload volume of any launch vehicle.

Purpose

It is aimed to lower the cost of space travel once it is fully operational and is built to transport crew and/or cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

As part of the Artemis III mission, SpaceX also plans to use the Starship to return NASA astronauts to the moon by 2026. 

The goal of SpaceX is to land the first humans on Mars using Starship.

About

It is a privately developed family of three launch vehicles—Falcon 1, Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy—built by the U.S. corporation SpaceX 

Falcon 1

The first test flight of Falcon 1 took place on March 24, 2006.

Many tests of Falcon 1 ended in failure, but on September 28, 2008, Falcon 1 successfully entered Earth orbit.

Falcon 1 made one more flight in 2009 and was retired in favour of Falcon 9.

It could place a 1,010-kg (2,227-pound) payload into orbit at a lower cost than other launch vehicles. 

Falcon 9

It can lift payloads of up to 8,300 kg (18,300 pounds) to geostationary orbit.

It is a spacecraft designed to carry crew and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS).

It launched several satellites from the US to low Earth orbit.

Falcon Heavy

It has the first stages of three Falcon 9 launch vehicles joined together as its first stage.

It can transport 53,000 kg (117,000 pounds) into orbit, which is almost twice as much as its biggest rival, the Boeing Company's Delta IV Heavy.

At liftoff, it generates more than 5 million pounds of thrust, making it one of the most potent operational rockets in the world. This amounts to roughly 18,747 aircraft's thrust.

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q.Consider the following statements about the “Starship” recently seen in the news: 

1. Starship is a two-stage heavy lift rocket.
2. It has two reusable stages.
3. Starship might take NASA astronauts back to the moon by 2026 as a part of the Artemis III mission. 

Which of the above  statements are incorrect? 

A)1 and 2 only

B)2 and 3 only

C)1, 2 and 3 only

D)None

Ans: D

Explanation: 

Statement 1 is correct: 

Starship is a two-stage heavy lift vehicle comprising a Super Heavy booster, and an upper section called the Starship spacecraft.

It is a key part of SpaceX’s plans to send astronauts or/and cargo to celestial bodies.

Statement 2 is correct: 

It is the first rocket which has both reusable stages.

Statement 3 is correct: 

It is designed to carry crew or/ and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond, and once fully operational, can reduce the cost of space travel.

SpaceX also aims to use the Starship to take NASA astronauts back to the moon by 2026 as a part of the Artemis III mission. 

SpaceX is aiming that Starship will put the first humans on Mars.