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from the about-twice-the-thrust-of-a-Saturn-V dept.
SpaceX's "completed" Starship Mark 1 (Mk1) prototype was unveiled during an update presentation in Boca Chica, Texas on Saturday. The craft has two less-prominent aft fins instead of the three larger fins (acting as landing legs) seen in previous renderings, and two small fins on the nosecone. An upcoming 20 kilometer test flight of Mk1 will only use three sea level optimized Raptor engines, while the full version of Starship will use three sea level and three vacuum optimized Raptor engines. The dry mass of Starship will be higher than initially expected: about 100-120 tons instead of 85 tons (Mk1 is 200 tons). Payload to low Earth orbit (LEO) in fully reusable mode will start out near 100 tons but is expected to reach 150 tons.
SpaceX is currently making one new Raptor engine every 8-10 days, but hopes to speed that up to one engine every day in Q1 2020. The process of building Starships will also speed up due to unspooling steel and using single seam welds (giant rings of steel will still be joined together, but without the plates seen in Mk1). A Starship Mk3 could be completed within 3 months, and a Starship Mk3, Mk4, or Mk5 (with the Super Heavy booster) could reach orbit within 6 months from today. It may not be possible to get a Starship to orbit by itself, but even if it could, it would be expendable and not worth it. Therefore, orbital tests will depend on the rate of Raptor engine production. Around 100 engines will need to have been made by the time of the first test. Super Heavy could use as few as 24 engines to complete a mission, but is more likely to use 31, or a maximum of 37 engines. The amount is configurable as needed.
Elon Musk claimed that SpaceX could launch people on a Starship as early as next year, and that in-orbit refueling (called "orbital refilling" during the presentation) of Starship will be easier than docking with the International Space Station. The refueling process is necessary to get the full 100-150 tons of payload to the surface of the Moon, Mars, or other solar system destinations.
Musk estimated that a small fleet of 10-20 Starships could launch about 1,000 to 10,000 times as much mass to orbit in a year than is currently launched with all of the world's rockets annually, including SpaceX's Falcon 9/Heavy.
Also at NASASpaceFlight, Ars Technica, Space.com, and CBS.
See also: r/SpaceX Starship Presentation Official Discussion & Updates Thread
SpaceX debuts Starship's new Super Heavy booster design
SpaceX envisions Starship-enabled cities on the Moon and Mars in new renders
Tesla on Mars addressed by Elon Musk in SpaceX's Starship Q&A session
(Score: 4, Insightful) by isostatic on Monday September 30 2019, @02:24PM (6 children)
What amazes me is that in the next 10 years we could well see a steel rocket landing vertically on mars (and/or moon), looking like something straight out of 1930s scifi.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Monday September 30 2019, @02:57PM (1 child)
I heard that they won't look like charcoal briquettes like reused F9 boosters do. There may be an effort to keep it that way since shiny = better at reflecting heat.
The appearance will start to shape up with the new welding method (also making them a lot thinner and lighter) and wrinkles will disappear once they are filled with propellant.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Immerman on Monday September 30 2019, @03:29PM
> There may be an effort to keep it that way since shiny = better at reflecting heat.
Quite possibly.
A big part of it though is probably just that methane burns a LOT cleaner than kerosene. All that charcoally buildup on the outside of the rocket is unsightly - but the same stuff is also building up *inside* the engine, where it can cause major problems (clogging, jamming, etc) if left uncleaned. Part of the motive for moving to methane is that methane causes dramatically less of that "coking" in the engine, and thus has dramatically lower maintenance requirements. Less buildup on the outside skin might just be a minor bonus of no great significance.
(Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Monday September 30 2019, @03:48PM (1 child)
(Score: 5, Funny) by DannyB on Monday September 30 2019, @04:02PM
I didn't think Asimov thought of himself as God.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday September 30 2019, @08:42PM (1 child)
Where it will promptly be attacked by the minions of a Galactic Emperor.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 01 2019, @02:41AM
Emperor Ming who looks suspiciously Chinese.