SpaceX Starship

Elon Musk said Starship, the most powerful rocket in history, will be capable of carrying humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, announced Saturday night his latest plans to “extend consciousness beyond Earth” using Starship, the giant steel spaceship.

SpaceX Starship (4)

Musk said:

“This thing is going to take off, fly to 65,000 feet – about 20 km – and come back and land in about one to two months. So that giant thing, it’s gonna be pretty epic to see that thing take off and come back.”

Starship Mk.1 and maybe the Mk.2, could be conducting tests within late October or November. Then, in six months from now, Starship prototypes could be starting flights to space and carrying its first passengers sometime in 2020.

SpaceX Starship (3)

The finished Starship will have a dry mass of approximately 120 tonnes (132 US tons) and weigh 150 tonnes (165 US tons) fully-loaded. It will be powered by six Raptor engines, three that are optimized for sea level and generate 200 tonnes (220 US tons) of thrust and three that optimized for vacuum and generate 220 tonnes (242.5 metric tons).

SpaceX Starship (2)

Musk summarized:

“On Mars, you can cut that up, you can weld it, you can modify it, no problem! You are out there on the Moon or Mars. You want something that you can modify, that you can cut up and use for other things. That’s like for sure a great thing! Obviously, I am in love with steel.”