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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has released the first official renditions of the company's updated stainless steel spacecraft, offering insights into the spacecraft on the Moon and Mars.
Although the Starship and Super Heavy (formerly BFS and BFR) designs have evolved considerably over the past three years, the vehicle's main destinations have remained stable. Above all, SpaceX remains focused on the design of its next-generation rocket, which will be the best spacecraft ever built to carry huge payloads and humans to the Moon, Mars and ultimately through the solar system. The interplanetary future of Starship is still unknown, but SpaceX is already building the first large-scale orbital prototype and testing several finished versions of the Raptor engine that will propel it.
As noted earlier today, SpaceX has already developed a prototype low-fidelity spacecraft known as the Starhopper, designed to – according to its name – perform low-altitude, low-velocity flight tests. Powered by Raptor, Starhopper also acts as a mobile testbed for the next generation rocket engine designed to power both Starship and its Super Heavy amplifier. SpaceX's current planning is delaying the vacuum variant of the engine by several years, preferring to standardize the same Raptor engine on both BFR stages. Starship will feature seven Raptor engines producing 14,000kN thrust (~ 3.2M lbf), while the last Super Heavy iteration would require 31 Raptors and produce an impressive 62,000kN / 14M lb boost on takeoff.
This performance – which theoretically makes Starship / Super Heavy nearly twice as powerful as Saturn V – is essential to support massive missions to Mars and the Moon while allowing full reuse of the rocket. SpaceX has rightly felt that quick and effortless reusability is the only way to really revolutionize the cost of in-orbit access, at least for an indefinite future. It is a need inspired by the founding motivation of CEO Elon Musk: to make humanity a multi-global species and protect it from future events of mass extinction.
Musk has long regarded the moon as a distraction from this goal, offering very little chance of being a detour, but NASA and the political apparatus currently controlling the United States have decided that a return of the renowned Moon is desirable. Repeating several almost identical proposals for the return of the Moon in recent decades, the political powers in place have not yet put the money within their reach. SpaceX and Musk have nevertheless taken the bandwagon, a pragmatic decision to cover bets in case of funding. Unsurprisingly, SpaceX is interested in any opportunity to obtain federal funding for its expensive Starship / Super Heavy / Raptor development programs.
In September 2018, SpaceX announced its intention to send the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and 8 to 10 artists of its choice to the first Starship mission around the Moon. According to Musk, this could happen as early as 2023 but will necessarily be preceded by at least one un-performed demonstration of Starship's performance in deep space. Given the nominal reuse of Starship, the same spacecraft could perform both missions.
In the meantime, SpaceX is building the first prototype orbital spacecraft, although it is clear how advanced the vehicle will be. Depending on the degree of success and success of SpaceX's Alpha spacecraft (lack of a better term), it is conceivable that the spacecraft could be adapted or enhanced for real-life demonstration missions in deep space or the Moon . To enable the long-term re-use of spacecraft, SpaceX will have to rely on in-orbit refueling through dedicated tanker launches. However, a low-fidelity prototype that could otherwise be scrapped might be the ideal candidate for a one-way mission on the moon landing or lunar landing, reducing the risk for the future. ship missions equipped or unprepared on the Moon before SpaceX has facilities and equipment to support simultaneous launches of spaceships and tankers.
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