Why SpaceX’s Starship Is So Big
Coming in at 120m tall and 9m wide Starship is one of the biggest rockets in the world. This massive size creates equally big challenges but also a great payout. Why exactly did SpaceX decide to make Starship so big when they already have other powerful rockets like Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9?
The reason Starship is so big is to facilitate a massive amount of cargo. Starship’s size allows a finished product to carry an estimated 100 passengers. Just as impressive Starship is supposed to carry anywhere from 100 to 150 tons into low Earth orbit. This carrying capacity is needed for SpaceX’s ambitious goals of putting humans on Mars and beyond.
To fit that many people and that much stuff, you not only need to be able to fit it but also launch it into orbit and farther. This means that majority of the size of Starship is responsible for holding fuel. With the rocket carrying around 1000 tons of methane alone, Starship will need a lot of space to hold that much fuel.
What Is Starship?
Starship is a rocket currently in development by SpaceX. Starship is going to be one of the biggest and most powerful rockets in the world once complete. With over 30 Raptor engines on the first stage alone it will be capable of bringing massive amounts of cargo into Earth’s orbit and beyond. Starship consists of two stages. The first stage/booster is called super heavy which stands at 70m tall and 9m wide. The second stage is also called Starship and is 50m tall and 9m wide.
The unique part about Starship is that it’s fully reusable. In an effort to make the rocket very affordable and quick to launch, SpaceX designed it so that nothing would be wasted. Once the booster has disconnected from the second stage it falls back towards the launch pad using small thrusters and four large grid fins. It completes multiple landing burns on the way down and is planned to be caught out of mid-air by large arms attached to the launch tower.
The second stage has four large fins and belly-flops down through Earth’s atmosphere. Similar to the booster SpaceX plans on catching Starship out of mid-air when landing on Earth. On other planets Starship will complete a landing burn that flips it from a belly-flop position to a vertical one for landing.
What Is Starship’s Purpose?
The purpose of Starship is to carry massive amounts of cargo and humans to other planets such as Mars and beyond. SpaceX and Elon have made this goal clear from the start of Starship development. More specifically Elon Musk wants to build a colony on the Martian planet. To do this Starship will not only need to get there but also be capable of holding a lot of humans and cargo.
Additionally Starship has plans to go to the Moon. Recently NASA awarded SpaceX with $2.9 billion to design a lunar lander. A Starship lunar lander will be responsible for carrying humans to the surface of the Moon. It will also have to safely get them back.
Another purpose of Starship is Earth to Earth transportation. SpaceX has mentioned possible plans in the future of using Starship to transport a lot of people across the Earth in a short period of time. More specifically SpaceX was advertising launching from one location on Earth to the opposite side of the planet in as little as 30 minutes. To do this efficiently Starship would need a capacity large enough to carry a lot of humans per trip.
What Starship Will Carry?
After looking at the purpose of Starship you can see the type of things it is likely to carry. The main things are humans and cargo. Whether it’s a mission to Mars, the Moon, or the other side of the planet, the increased size means Starship has a big carrying capacity.
Humans – Looking at the past of spaceflight the most amount people launched into space on a single rocket was around 7 from rockets such as the Space Shuttle. One of the main reasons for this is the Space Shuttle did not need to bring any more. This is why Starship is so unique. Its goals are different and its size and capabilities reflect that. When going to Mars SpaceX wants to put around 100 humans on each launch. A tough aspect of Mars is the orbit in relation to Earth’s. We can only launch every two years and the mission takes around 6 months to get there. This is why it’s so important to have a rocket capable of bringing 100 humans in one trip.
Another scenario involves the Moon. Whether they decide to use it or not, SpaceX’s Starship will be capable of bringing a lot of humans to the surface. With NASA’s goals of establishing a Moon base and a more permanent residence, Starship’s size could come in handy.
Cargo – The other thing Starship will carry is cargo. As I mentioned above the window to go to Mars is rare and takes a long time. SpaceX is planning to have multiple types of Starships including a cargo variation. This ship will be filled to the brim with as much cargo as it can fit. Despite Starships massive size and carrying capacity, SpaceX will still need to launch multiple Starships to bring more life support equipment and more to set up a base on Mars.
The Amount Of Fuel In Starship
When looking at rockets it can be hard to imagine what they look like on the inside. In reality majority of what you see is just fuel storage. An example of this is every first stage and any additional boosters. All of that massive equipment is just meant to get the second stage out of Earth’s atmosphere. More specifically out of the 120m of Starship about 2/3rds of it is fuel. This leaves just a smaller section towards the top of the second stage that can hold humans or cargo. The more you want to bring into space the more fuel you need. Starship uses a mix of liquid methane and oxygen to fuel Starship. When full, Starship will hold around 1000 tons of liquid methane. To carry that amount of fuel you need a very big rocket.
Challenges Of Building Such A Big Rocket
There are a lot of challenges with building one of the biggest rockets in the world. One of the more obvious is the construction process. SpaceX has built a massive production site and launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas to support the construction and launching of Starship. At the production site, SpaceX has built an 81m tall high bay just to hold a Starship booster or a second stage. Additionally, they are in the process of building an even bigger bay to support the construction of even more rockets. When looking at the launch site the orbital launch mount and tower are massive. Some other challenges include thrust produced during launch, landing, assembly, and more. Each adds to the challenge of building Starship.
Conclusion
Starship is one of the biggest and most powerful rockets in the world. Standing at 120m tall and 9m wide it can be hard to process how big that really is. SpaceX and Elon’s goals are why the rocket is so big. If they want to carry that much cargo to Mars and beyond they will need a big rocket. In addition, the more you want to carry the more fuel needed to put your rocket into space. With the majority of Starship’s size responsible for holding fuel, it starts to make sense why it’s so big. Starship’s massive size will have a big impact on the future of the space industry if successful.