SpaceX Starship

SpaceX was founded in 2002 to revolutionize access to space and enable a multi-planetary society. Today, SpaceX performs routine missions t...

SpaceX was founded in 2002 to revolutionize access to space and enable a multi-planetary society. Today, SpaceX performs routine missions to space with its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles for a diverse set of customers, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense, international governments, and leading commercial companies. 

SpaceX provides further support to NASA with the Dragon spacecraft by conducting cargo resupply and return missions to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Soon, SpaceX will begin transporting crew to the ISS as well. To offer competitive launch and resupply services, SpaceX has incorporated reusability into the Falcon and Dragon systems, which improves vehicle reliability while reducing cost. The Starship Program now leverages SpaceX’s experience to introduce a nextgeneration, super heavy-lift space transportation system capable of rapid and reliable reuse

WHY MARS? 

At an average distance of 140 million miles, Mars is one of Earth's closest habitable neighbors. Mars is about half again as far from the Sun as Earth is, so it still has decent sunlight. It is a little cold, but we can warm it up. Its atmosphere is primarily CO2 with some nitrogen and argon and a few other trace elements, which means that we can grow plants on Mars just by compressing the atmosphere. Gravity on Mars is about 38% of that of Earth, so you would be able to lift heavy things and bound around. Furthermore, the day is remarkably close to that of Earth.

STARSHIP 

Starship will be the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, with the ability to carry in excess of 100 metric tonnes to Earth orbit. Drawing on an extensive history of launch vehicle and engine development programs, SpaceX has been rapidly iterating on the design of Starship with orbital-flight targeted for 2020.

Today we have a Starship system which is fully reusable transportation system designed to service Earth orbit needs as well as missions to the Moon and Mars. This two-stage vehicle—composed of the Super Heavy rocket (Booster) and Starship (Spacecraft) as shown as dhown in those video footage. The spaceship powered by sub-cooled methane and oxygen and is designed to evolve rapidly to meet near term and future customer needs while maintaining the highest level of reliability.

ON-ORBIT REFILLING 

Starship leverages tanker vehicles (essentially the Starship spacecraft minus the windows) to refill the Starship spacecraft in low-Earth orbit prior to departing for Mars. Refilling on-orbit enables the transport of up to 100 tons all the way to Mars. And if the tanker ship has high reuse capability, the primary cost is that of the propellant, and the cost of oxygen and methane is extremely low.

LANDING ON MARS 

 Starship will enter Mars’ atmosphere at 7.5 kilometers per second and decelerate aerodynamically. The vehicle’s heat shield is designed to withstand multiple entries, but given that the vehicle is coming into Mars’ atmosphere so hot, we still expect to see some ablation of the heat shield (similar to wear and tear on a brake pad). The engineering video below simulates the physics of Mars entry for Starship.

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket (collectively referred to as Starship) represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship will be the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, with the ability to carry in excess of 100 metric tonnes to Earth orbit.

SATELLITES 

Starship has the capability to transport satellites, payloads, crew, and cargo to a variety of orbits and Earth, Lunar, or Martian landing sites. Potential Starship customers can use this guide as a resource for preliminary payload accommodations information. 

Starship is designed to deliver satellites further and at a lower marginal cost per launch than our current Falcon vehicles. With a payload compartment larger than any fairing currently in operation or development, Starship creates possibilities for new missions, including space telescopes even larger than the James Webb. 

 ENGINES 

The Raptor engine is a reusable methalox staged-combustion engine that powers the Starship launch system. Raptor engines beganflight testing on the Starship prototype rockets in July 2019, becoming the first full-flow staged combustion rocket engine ever flown.

Diameter 

• 1.3 m / 4 ft  

Height 

• 3.1 m / 10.2 ft  

Trust 

• 2 MN / 440 klbf

ENVIRONMENT

 

Utilizing strong heritage and lessons learned from the development of the Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch systems, SpaceX is designing Starship and Super Heavy to provide as benign of a payload environment as possible. SpaceX will ensure that Starship environments meet or improve upon those of the Falcon Heavy launch system. To aid in the design of space vehicles capable of flying on Starship, SpaceX is providing the following preliminary payload environments.

 

CARGO CONFIGURATION

 

Starship designed from the onset to be able to carry more than 100 tons of cargo to Mars and the Moon. The cargo version can also be used for rapid point-to-point Earth transport. Various payload bay configurations are available and allow for fully autonomous deployment of cargo to Earth, Lunar, or Martian surfaces.

PAYLOAD CONFIGURATIONS 

 

Starship crew and uncrewed configurations as shown in Fig 2, the uncrewed Starship allows for the transport of satellites like example Fig 4 below that carry large observatories, cargo, refueling tanks or other unmanned assets. Subsequent sections provide an overview of the preliminary volume and mechanical interfaces available; preliminary payload environments expected; and the preliminary mass-to-orbit capabilities of Starship.

 

 

MECHANISM

 

The standard Starship payload fairing is 9 m in outer diameter resulting in the largest usable payload volume of any current or in development launcher. The Starship payload fairing is a clamshell structure in which the payload is integrated. Once integrated, the clamshell fairing remains closed through launch up until the payload is ready to deploy. 

 

To deploy the payload, the clamshell fairing door is opened, and the payload adapter and payload are tilted at an angle in preparation for separation. The payload is then separated using the mission-unique payload adapter. If there are multiple payloads on a single mission, a rotating mechanism can be provided to allow each satellite to separate with maximum clearance. Once separation is confirmed and the payload(s) have cleared the fairing, the payload fairing door is closed in preparation for Starship’s return to Earth.

 

ACOUSTICS 

 

During flight, the payload will be subjected to a range (100dB -10000dB) of acoustic environments. Levels are highest during liftoff and transonic flight, due to acoustic and aerodynamic excitations.

 

PAYLOAD INTEGRATION 

 

SpaceX is initially planning for two launch sites for the Starship vehicle: Kennedy Space Center LC-39A  28.6082° N latitude, 80.6041° W longitude Boca Chica launch pad 25.9971° N latitude, 97.1554° W longitude For payloads requiring return to Earth, landing sites are coordinated with SpaceX and could include Kennedy Space Center, FL or Boca Chica, TX. 

 

Payloads are integrated into the Starship fairing vertically in ISO Class 8 (Class 100,000) cleanrooms. Then the integrated payload stack is transferred to the launch pad and lifted onto the Starship vehicle, while maintaining the same vertical orientation throughout the entire process. Conditioned air is delivered into the fairing during encapsulated ground processing while in the processing facility and on the launch pad.

 

With a fully reusable Starship, satellites can be captured and repaired in orbit, returned to Earth, or transferred to a new operational orbit. vehicle requirements to not only reach Mars, but to set up a sustainable base on the Red Planet that can serve as an actual city, supporting a local population. That’s the long-term vision for Musk and his space technology company, after all — making humans an interplanetary species.