What Makes SpaceX’s Starship So Special?
The sheer size of Starship alone makes it unique. When you add its goal to be fully reusable, caught out of mid-air when landing on earth, and built at a fraction of the normal rocket cost, its easy to see how special it really is. These are not even all the reasons why SpaceX’s Starship is something the world has never seen before. Its also likely these reasons will completely change the future of the space industry.
What Does The Average Rocket Ship Look Like Today?
When looking at different spacecraft from different companies around the world you will see a lot of similarities. One is the cost of the rocket. While prices vary between different companies you will find the price is always extremely high. The reason for this is that practically no current spacecraft are fully reusable. This means that a large majority of the money they put into creating the spacecraft is gone after one launch. This brings up quite the issue because so much money is being wasted in every launch.
How Exactly Does Starship Work?
Starship is a rocket made up of 2 stages. This includes the upper stage called Starship and the booster called Super Heavy. Together they make the name Starship. Once the countdown ends Super Heavy ignites and Starship is launched up into the atmosphere. Once high enough the booster disconnects from Starship and falls back down to earth. Starship then ignites its engines and continues picking up speed to get into the correct orbit it needs to be in. Super Heavy using its grid fins and additional equipment to orient itself back towards the launch site. Not too far above the ground Super Heavy ignites a portion of its engines and slows down until it is slow enough to be caught by two arms on the launch tower. Yes, you read that right the plan is to catch the booster right where it took off. Keep in mind at the time of writing this that has not been done yet but is in the works.
Once the upper stage of Starship is ready to come back it enters the atmosphere belly down similar to the space shuttle. It does this maneuver all the way down until it’s close to the ground where it ignites its center three engines. It then flips in mid-air so engines are pointed down and slowly comes to a landing. So far SpaceX has had a successful landing of Starship in SN15 during a 15km test flight. As far as Super Heavy they have only done a static fire up to this point. What SpaceX is trying to achieve is extremely ambitious but throughout their history, they have done the incredible. Often times SpaceX will say they are doing something, you’ll think yeah right, then they pull it off.
What’s The Difference Between Starship And Other Rockets?
There are so many differences between starships and other rockets but I want to highlight just 6 that I think are the most important. Each difference helps reduce cost, increase speed, and improve the future possibilities of space flight. These main differences include reusability, size, cost, manufacturing process, payload capacity, and landing.
1. Reusability
One of the biggest differences when comparing Starship and other spacecraft is reusability. Starship is designed to be 100% reusable. This means that one of the only costs to launch Starship again and again would be fuel and small maintenance. This is such a big deal because it can save tens of millions or even more for every launch. Cost is one of the main limiting factors in the space industry today. It is so expensive to get a pound of anything from earth to orbit. All because so much money is spent on a rocket that can only be used once.
When asked about spaceship reusability Elon often makes the comparison to Airplanes. He mentions how expensive a plane ticket would be if the airplane only flew to one destination and that was it for the plane. If SpaceX can master the art of launching a rocket, landing it safely, refueling, and launching soon after it will completely change the space industry.
2. Size
Another big difference is the size. Standing at an astonishing 120m (394ft) tall, Starship is the tallest rocket in the world. At 9m (30ft) wide it is also one of the biggest. This massive size separates it from a lot of the current competition. The upper stage is 50m (164ft) tall and the booster is 70m (230ft) tall. The height combined with the overall size of the rocket practically creates a flying skyscraper. This enormous size will help Starship carry large objects such as satellites and even bring humans to different planets.
| Space Shuttle | Falcon 9 | Saturn V | Starship | |
| Height | 56m (184ft) | 63m (208ft) | 111m (363ft) | 120m (394ft) |
Looking at this chart you can see that Starship is even taller than the Saturn V which took humans to the Moon and back.
3. Cost
Cost is one of the most important metrics when looking at spacecraft. The reason for this is that companies are often limited by the amount of money they have. Like I mentioned above Starship being fully reusable saves SpaceX tens of millions of dollars and that’s for each launch. The cost goal per Starship launch is $2 million. This is still a lot of money to us but for the space industry that is peanuts.
To give a comparison the average cost of the Saturn V with today’s value was over $1.2 billion dollars per launch! If SpaceX is able to get their costs down to $2 million per launch they will be able to launch rockets like nothing the world has ever seen. Also, keep in mind that the Saturn V is not some much more powerful rocket and that’s why the cost is so much higher. In fact, it’s the other way around yet the cost goal for Starship is so low.
4. Manufacturing Process
While reusability plays a massive part in cutting costs, SpaceX’s manufacturing process is also like nothing else in the space industry. Right now the main base of operations for the Starship program is located in Boca Chica Texas. Here they have built a massive production site and launch complex called Starbase. In the last year alone SpaceX has operated a speed that is hard to keep up with.
One aspect that helps their manufacturing process is the material used for Starship. Currently, SpaceX is using stainless steel for the construction of Starship and Super Heavy. This is very different from the usual expensive and highly machined alloys other companies tend to use. This material has helped them ramp up their speed and constantly produce Starship prototypes. During their current testing campaign, a prototype will be in the testing phase and the next 3 Starships will already be in the works. This constant speed allows them to efficiently test their rockets unlike any other company or agency.
5. Payload Capacity
SpaceX is estimating Starship will be capable of carrying over 100 tons into LEO (low earth orbit). To give another comparison, the Space Shuttle was responsible for bringing a lot of modules up for the International Space Station. Its payload capacity was only able to carry around 33 tons into LEO. With Starship having this much payload potential and such a small cost per launch we will have more access to space than we could imagine. Combine this with fast reusability and turnaround time and Starship proves how special it is.
6. Landing Maneuver
The last difference I wanted to point out was Starship’s landing maneuver. Right off the bat, this is very different from other spacecraft because practically none of them land. One of the only spacecraft that did was the Space Shuttle and there were a lot of issues with that rocket. Starship is designed to land straight up on a small designated landing area. The reason it’s not designed to land like a plane is that Starship is meant to go to places like the Moon and Mars. Obviously, these places don’t have runways so that is not an option.
About half of Starship is covered in heat shielding tiles for entering the planet’s atmosphere. Starship continues to belly flop all the way down until it gets close to the ground. At this point, it ignites its three center gimbaled raptors and swings upright. It then slowly descends and lands softly on the landing legs. If you have not seen it yet make sure to check out this test flight from the SpaceX website https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/
Conclusion
Right now we live in a very exciting time for space flight. Companies like SpaceX are innovating technology and creating something special. This technology will likely be responsible for some incredible milestones in the future. While a lot of companies and agencies in the space industry are doing it the same, SpaceX is not. Between Starships reusability, size, cost, manufacturing process, payload capacity, and landing maneuver, it’s clear they are doing something special. I know I am very excited about what’s to come and hope you are also.