The Starship, SpaceX’s under-construction rocket designed to send humans to Mars and beyond, has taken its first flight in prototype form.
On Friday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared an image of the prototype “SN5” during this week’s “hop test”. This test sent the tank into the air with a single off-center Raptor engine. The “SN5” tower flew nearly 500 feet into the air, about the same height as its “Starhopper” predecessor which stepped up in August 2019.
The successful launch is an important step in SpaceX’s mission to complete the development of the Starship. First sketched under the name “BFR” in September 2017, the Starship is designed to take on missions currently reserved for the Falcon 9 such as satellite launches. It is also a fully reusable ship designed to send a maximum of 150 tons or 100 people into space at a time. The use of liquid oxygen and methane fuel means that humans can fly to Mars, harvest the planet’s resources, or either return home or continue away.
Perhaps not much wonder, then, that Musk marked the flight of August 4th declared on Twitter “Mars really looks like that.”
Steve Jurvetson, who sits on the SpaceX board, responded to Musk’s Friday image by sharing four more SpaceX drone shots:
The images highlight the asymmetrical placement of the Raptor engine, because “SN5” originally expected to host three engines in a triangular configuration.
The final Starship is expected to have six engines. The ship will pair with the Super Heavy booster, expected to hold up to 37 engines.
The SpaceX drone images highlight how the “SN5” launch looks like a silo floating in the air.
Following the launch, SpaceX shared footage of the event on its YouTube account.
The Raptor engine is at the heart of SpaceX’s efforts to bring the Starship to light. The company first launched a Raptor-powered car into the air back in August 2019. The “Starhopper” had the same nine meters (30 feet) diameter as the final ship, but measured only 18 meters (60 feet) high. The following month, Musk unveiled the “Starship Mk.1” with a height of 50 meters (164 feet) that served as the first full-size prototype. Unlike the “SN5”, the “Mk.1” sported additional features such as a nosecone designed to hold the load and keep cabin space under pressure.
As the last ship, along with the Super Heavy booster, it is expected to measure nearly 122 meters (400 feet). The Falcon 9 measures, by comparison, just 70 meters (230 feet). The Starship and Super Heavy are expected to dramatically overlook SpaceX’s previous rocket.
Following the launch, SpaceX now has plans to host a series of small hops. The next phase will then be to fly to higher altitudes with body flaps. Musk has previously suggested that the company could host a 20-kilometer jump, but the exact height of future launches is unclear.
Following this, SpaceX is expected to host a satellite launch with the Starship. The company has also outlined plans to send Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa on a monthly trip with six to eight artists as part of the “Dear Moon” mission. From there, the company plans to continue with its plans to send people to the moon and Mars.
De Inverse analysis – These clearer images give us the best view yet of the Starship launch earlier this week. Although it is an early prototype, it is a clear step towards the most striking goals of SpaceX to send humans to Mars and start a planet-hop network.
It is unclear when SpaceX will be ready with the development of Starship, but the successful launch bodes well for the company’s future plans.
THE STARSHIP JOURNEY, SUMMARIZED
