What to know about first test flight of SpaceX’s big Starship
- April 17, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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What to know about first test flight of SpaceX’s big Starship
Subject :Science and Technology
Section: Space technology
Context:
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX is about to launch the first test flight of its mammoth Starship.
- It’s the biggest and mightiest rocket ever built, with the lofty goals of ferrying people to the moon and Mars.
About SpaceX Starship:
- Starship is a fully reusable spacecraft designed and built by SpaceX with the primary goal of sending humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Key objectives
- SpaceX aims to use Starship to establish a self-sustaining human settlement on Mars.
- The ultimate goal is to enable humans to become a multi-planetary species.
- It also aims to make Starship reusable, reducing the cost of spaceflight and bringing down the price to a few million dollars per flight.
- In the long run, the company aims to achieve full and rapid reusability of the spacecraft.
Features:
- Design and configurability:
- Made up of two parts: a 50-meter tall spacecraft and a 70-meter tall Super Heavy rocket booster.
- Spacecraft has six Raptor engines; Super Heavy Booster has 28 Raptor engines.
- Payload capacity of up to 250 metric tons and features a large heat shield.
- Interior can be configured for up to 100 passengers or cargo.
- Manoeuvrability
- Designed to be fully reusable, with vertical take-off and landing on Earth, Moon, and Mars.
- Can be refuelled in orbit for deeper space travel and for establishing a human settlement on Mars.
- Construction and materials
- Built using durable and cost-effective stainless steel material.
- Stainless steel also provides heat protection during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
- Power and thrust:
- The stainless steel Starship has 33 main engines.
- Powered by methane and liquid oxygen fueled Raptor engines.
- Generates 17 million pounds of thrust more than twice that of the Saturn V rockets used for the Apollo missions.
Other competitors:
- Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is readying the New Glenn rocket for its orbital debut from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- United Launch Alliance expects its new Vulcan rocket to make its inaugural launch later this year, hoisting a private lunar lander to the moon at NASA’s behest.
- Europe’s Arianespace is close to launching its new, upgraded Ariane 6 rocket from French Guiana in South America.