STARSHIP

Subject : Science & tech

Context :NASA picks SpaceX and Starship to send Artemis astronauts to the moon

Concept :

Starship is a spacecraft and super-heavy booster rocket.
It acts as a reusable transportation system for crew and cargo to the Earth’s orbit, Moon and Mars.
SpaceX has described Starship as “the world’s most powerful launch vehicle” with an ability to carry over 100 metric tonnes to the Earth’s orbit.
Starship has been under development since 2012 which is a part of Space X’s central mission to make interplanetary travel accessible and affordable. The company is working on building a fleet of reusable launch vehicles.
SpaceX is planning its first cargo mission to the red planet by 2022 and by 2024.

Significance:

Starship can ferry both cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS) and other destinations in the solar system.
Starship is also expected to help in carrying large amounts of cargo to the Moon for human spaceflight development and research.
It could reduce the cost of travelling to space by a hundredfold.