Starship: The Pinnacle of SpaceX's Genius Engineering

Elon Musk's Dream of a Multi-Planetary Species

Elon Musk's goal with SpaceX has always been to make the human race an inter-planetary species. To make that happen, he has created Starship, a fully reusable, 2-stage-to-orbit super-heavy lift launch vehicle. It is, to date, the tallest rocket ever built, even surpassing Saturn Five, which was made by NASA. Starship has generated a lot of hype among Elon Musk fans, prompting one of them to even create an animation of the Starship launch!

The Origins of Starship

It all started in 2002 when Musk said that existential threats like an asteroid collision or World War 3 might be the end of humanity, and moving some of us to another planet might be our only shot at preserving the species. Realizing this dream will need a vehicle that's up to the massive task. This rocket cum spacecraft combo can ferry over 100 people at a time to the red planet, and Musk's dream of planting a million of us on Mars will be achieved in no time!

The Genius Engineering of Starship

And what a vehicle we've got! It enables not only travel but also production on a large scale. In fact, in addition to unbeatable concepts and engineering, SpaceX also manufactures rockets like biscuit factories churn out your beloved Oreos. Since 2010, rockets from the Falcon 9 group alone have launched 114 times. They are the go-to for NASA when planning their missions to the Moon or the International Space Station. How is it possible for SpaceX to manufacture rockets so fast and at such enormous rates? The answer is simple – exceptional engineering!

The Parts of Starship

The Spacecraft

At launch, the spacecraft will sit on top of the rocket called Super Heavy. This combined structure is called Starship. The whole thing will stand 120 meters or 394 feet tall. With its nosecone and landing fins, the spacecraft somewhat resembles the rocket ships in comics and old sci-fi movies and is no doubt an homage to them. The rear of the craft contains 6 Raptor engines, developed over the course of 10 years by SpaceX. The combustion happens in stages, and the engine's design cuts the amount of propellant wasted.

The Propellant Tanks

In the middle, you have propellant tanks that feed liquid methane and liquid oxygen to the Raptors, and the combination is called Methalox. This choice of fuel is definitely not common for rocket engines, but methane can generate plenty of thrust, and it works in a practical sense. Liquid methane can be synthesized from Martian subsurface water and from atmospheric carbon dioxide, using a chemical process known as the Sabatier reaction. So, the rocket can be refueled on Mars for the return trip, bringing Mars a step closer to self-sufficiency.

The Super Heavy Rocket

The Super Heavy rocket measures 70 meters or 230 feet and will be filled with 6.8 million pounds of chilled methalox. This guy will be powered by 28 Raptor engines providing 16 million pounds of thrust.

The Innovative Heat Shields

First aluminum, then carbon fiber, then stainless steel, and now… hexagonal tiles! The Starship body has seen quite a lot of evolution since its conception. Aluminum is a lightweight material and has been the go-to for the manufacturing of every spacecraft. After some launches under their belt, Musk decided to give carbon fiber a shot, but that turned out to be way too expensive… at least 200 dollars a kilogram!

So next on the list was stainless steel… though heavy, it is incredibly heat resistant. It's not a brand new concept… we did once try steel for the Atlas program in the 1950s. Aluminum has a much better temperature tolerance than anything we've used before and would be the key to going to Mars! We need something heat resistant because when Starship enters Mars' incredibly thin atmosphere, it will do so in a way that the amount of drag is increased to slow the vehicle as it approaches the surface.

In a series of Twitter posts, Musk revealed a glimpse at a SpaceX test of the hexagonal heat shield tiles that will protect its Starship vehicle as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere. The heat shield will be composed of several hexagonally shaped bits of ceramic shielding, and at times during the test, the hottest parts of the tile withstood temperatures of 2510 degrees Fahrenheit or 1377 degrees Celsius. Hexagons are a great shape for something like this because it offers no straight path for hot gas to accelerate through the gaps. Soon enough, transpirational cooling will be added wherever there is erosion in the shield. This suit of armor should make it so Starship is ready for launch almost immediately after it lands, with minimal to no refurbishment.

The Reusability Factor

Another incredible example of the genius in SpaceX's engineering is the reusability of Starship rockets. Rockets are incredibly expensive because they are typically single-use. They burn up fuel in a few minutes and splash down into terrestrial oceans, having put their payload on the right trajectory. This is wasteful, not to mention it's crazy that we discard some of the finest examples of human engineering and expensive materials to the bottom of the ocean. But for the longest time, it was the only way to make them.

SpaceX's success marks a massive milestone in spacecraft engineering. If a rocket can be made reusable, this will allow massive cutbacks in expenses and thus ultimately reduce the cost of space travel for us. Instead of discarding the principal hardware elements into the ocean as the rocket re-enters, the pieces will be recovered, the rocket will be refurbished and refueled to be re-launched for another mission. SpaceX has already devised a way to fuel the rocket mid-flight just in case, since you know, space has a serious lack of gas stations.

The Starship Cabin and Facilities

It wasn't until 2019 that Musk finally shared the interior of the stainless steel giant, and it gives us a pretty good idea of the massive scale. The very front of the ship, aka Starship, has the payload compartment where people or cargo will be placed. This part would detach from the structure as it reaches space, and the Super Heavy rocket would flip over and return to Earth. If we're going to settle a million people on the red planet, we need adequate room and enough facilities to entertain them for the journey. The cruise Starship variant features a 1,000 cubic meter cabin capable of accommodating 100 passengers. The ship will have a common area, lecture halls, cinemas, and restaurants too.

Funding the Starship Dream

Even if Elon Musk has found a way to cut costs and make space travel more affordable to the everyday man, Starship still is incredibly expensive. So how exactly is Musk planning to fund making thousands of Starships for colonizing Mars and setting up a base on the Moon? Luckily, SpaceX has other ventures like Starlink to help with this venture. The Starlink project is an internet constellation that will provide the world with low-cost, high-performance internet around the world. Once the project is complete, Elon Musk will see a return of $3 billion, which should certainly help with manufacturing costs. And let's not forget, they have quite a few contracts with NASA, so their government funding also helps out.

The Future of Starship

What started as a dream in 2002 is now coming closer and closer to reality, and it's all thanks to the engineers working day and night in the Starship offices and facilities. As of now, we can expect the first manned mission to Mars to happen sometime in 2024. The cargo ships containing everything they'll need for living there will go ahead of them in 2022, most likely using the cargo Starship variant. A ticket on the ship will cost you no less than $500,000, but Musk hopes that number will come down to $200,000 as they make their manufacturing process more efficient. The first settlers will live underground in tunnels made with Elon Musk's own company, The Boring Company, until a few giant corporations decide to come in and build some of their own skyscrapers and make the Mars city Musk has dreamt of for so long.

Starship is a true engineering marvel, and its success will pave the way for humanity's expansion into the cosmos. From its innovative heat shields to its unparalleled reusability, Starship is pushing the boundaries of what's possible in space exploration. As we eagerly await the first manned mission to Mars, we can't help but be in awe of the genius that went into creating this incredible spacecraft.