What is the SpaceX Starship? – Fast Company

Theres a lot that can be said about Elon Muskbut theres no denying the fact that the entrepreneur and engineer has seriously disrupted the aerospace industry with SpaceX. The private spacecraft engineering company was first launched by Musk 20 years ago and has already become a leading force in space transportation and innovation.

Case in point: the SpaceX Starship. Musks latest Starship was designed to cut down the transportation costs and waste that come with space travel, resulting in a more sustainable form of aerospace exploration and space tourism, thanks to its aerodynamic design and fully reusable transportation system.

Curious to understand more about the latest innovation from SpaceX? Heres everything you need to know about the Starshipincluding how much it might cost if you want to book a future flight to the earths orbit or beyond.

What is the SpaceX Starship?

The SpaceX Starship is a deep-space transportation system that many industry experts and astronauts are calling a game changer in space exploration and the future of space travel, both commercial space tourism and further aerospace research.

The SpaceX Starship spacecraft and its Super Heavy rocketknown simply as Starshipis a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to the moon, Mars, and to the earths orbit. The super-heavy-lift launch vehicle is the tallest and most powerful launch vehicle ever builtbut its equally important to note that this breakthrough in aerospace engineering is also helping to create a more eco-friendly and sustainable future in space exploration.

The two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle hits 400 feet in height and uses liquid oxygen and liquid methane for propellant and is powered by Raptor engines. This technique allows for a significantly reduced launch cost and increased launch frequency.

How Much Does the SpaceX Starship Cost?

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently stated that he expects the SpaceX Starship to cost less than $10 million all in, which is significantly less expensive than the current industry standard. Musk later added that he expects a Starship flight to eventually cost maybe even as low as a million dollars per flight as space travel on the Starship becomes more and more frequent.

To give you an idea, the current cost of a flight on SpaceXs current Falcon 9 runs closer to $62 million to launch while private NASA flights to the International Space Station sell for $55 million each.

When Will SpaceX Launch Starship?

The SpaceX Starship serial number 15 (SN15) successfully completed SpaceXs fifth high-altitude flight test from Starbase in South Texas. The test Starship test flights are executed to improve understanding and development of the reusable transportation system while testing the Raptor engines and propellant transition in a controlled environment.

Theres no set date for when the Starship will go orbital, but Elon Musk has hinted that the massive rocket could launch as soon as next month. Late next month maybe, but November seems highly likely. We will have two boosters & ships ready for orbital flight by then, with full stack production at roughly one every two months, the SpaceX CEO said on Twitter.

That said, SpaceX plans to officially launch the space tourism side of the Starship in 2023 when Japanese businessman Yusaku Maezawa and the crew of his dearMoon lunar tourism mission will become the first passengers on a lunar Starship mission. The weeklong aerospace trip will include a fly-by of the moon and is considered to be a vital first step in space tourism that goes beyond the earths orbit.

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What is the SpaceX Starship? - Fast Company