Vehicle Overview

Basic Information

Starship is SpaceX's fully reusable two stage orbital rocket capable of carrying up to 100+ T to LEO (Low Earth Orbit). The first stage is called Super Heavy which is supposed to return to the launch pad (almost like the Falcon 9) after accelerating Starship to a designated velocity. It utilizes the newly designed full-flow staged combustion cycle engines designed and manufactured in house by SpaceX called the Raptor. After stage separation Starship will ignite its Raptor Vacuum engines to place itself into a parking orbit where it can be refilled by a tanker. Starship will be mainly used to colonize Mars and a lunar version is also being developed for NASA for the Artemis HLS program.

Starship Configurations

Crew

Intended to carry people to LEO and beyond.

Tanker

Intended to refill Starship in orbit.

Cargo

Intended to carry cargo to LEO (low earth orbit) and beyond.

Lunar

Being developed for NASA to support the Artemis missions.

Deep Space

Intended to carry cargo into deep space.

Superheavy Booster

The Superheavy Booster will be used to accelerate the Starship upper stage so it can reach orbit more easily. It is supposed to land back on the launch mount on its four grid fins which help to guide it back to the launch site. The skirt will house 29 Raptor engines that will produce 72 MN or 16 million pound of thrust on liftoff. The booster will not be needed for launches from Mars or the Moon as the gravity is substantially lower.

Raptor Engine

The Raptor engine is a full-flow staged combustion cycle engine developed by SpaceX. It uses liquid methane (CH4) as fuel and liquid oxygen (LOX) as oxidizer also known as METHALOX.

Chamber pressure 300 bar
Thrust: 880–2,210 kN sl, 8200 kN vac
Specific impulse: 382s vac, 334s sl

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