SpaceX's Next Rocket is Coming Together (Literally)

[link to twitter.com (secure)]
The monstrosity that is the Starship MK1 prototype is coming together. The top half has just been craned down onto the lower half. A month ago an earlier prototype known as Starhopper (aka the flying water tower) successfully completed a 150 meter vertical take off and vertical landing using SpaceX's new methane-powered full-flow staged combustion Raptor engines.


These engines are more efficient than the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy's Merlin engines, and because these run on methane, the fuel for these engines can be farmed on Mars using the Sabatier reaction to convert atmospheric CO2 and hydrogen into methane and water.

Starship is the second stage of SpaceX's next rocket, the BFR. Both the first stage (known as Falcon Super Heavy) as well as the second stage will use their new Raptor engines to lift as much as 220,000 lbs to orbit. Whereas only the first stage of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are reusable, the entire BFR rocket will be reusable once it is fully operational. Additionally, the second stage "Starship" will be designed for in-orbit refueling by unmanned tanker versions of the Starship put into orbit by successive BFR launches, meaning it can deliver the full 220,000 pound payload to trajectories that take it to the moon or Mars after first refueling in earth orbit.

Starship has undergone some major design changes since it was first announced, and more will likely be made before it's finished. SpaceX does their development by building and testing their designs in multiple iterations. The current and final version of the Falcon 9 rocket is a huge upgrade from the first version of the Falcon 9, and it took them many tries and years of development before it was capable of successfully landing to be reused. In the end it paid off, becoming the most commercially successful rocket in use today. Starship and Falcon Super Heavy are designed to surpass it in every way, both in terms of payload capacity and price to launch per pound of payload.

ULA, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed, are phasing out their Atlas and Delta rockets to replace it with a partially reusable rocket known as Vulcan. The first stage engines of that rocket are being built by Blue Origin which itself is designing a reusable heavy lift rocket known as New Glenn, designed to be a "Falcon 9 killer" of sorts. Reusable rockets are coming of age.
This, I believe, is a large part of the reason for SpaceX's urgency to make their own top-selling rocket obsolete. BFR would be able to haul more to orbit than New Glenn or Vulcan, and would be the world's only fully reusable rocket. It would likely keep SpaceX on top of the commercial launch market and make them a force to be reckoned with in government and military launches if they can also incorporate vertical payload integration.

Tomorrow evening Elon Musk will give a presentation at Boca Chica updating the current status of Starship's development. The prototype in his above tweet is at that site, and a second prototype is also being built in Cocoa, Florida ( [link to www.clickorlando.com (secure)] ). These prototypes will conduct progressively higher altitude sub-orbital tests before an orbital test flight will be conducted. I'll post the link to the presentation once it's available.

*Live webcast here:

Time is set for 8pm eastern tonight, 00:00 UT.

Last Edited by Astromut on 09/28/2019 10:01 AM