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Starship (spacecraft)

Topic: Engineering

 From HandWiki - Reading time: 16 min

Starship is the fully reusable second stage and space vehicle of the SpaceX BFR "Super Heavy" rocket currently under development by SpaceX. It is a long-duration cargo- and passenger-carrying spacecraft that also serves as the BFR launch vehicle second stage and integrated payload section.[1][2]

Three 9-meter (30 ft)-diameter stainless steel Starship test articles are being built, and one had already begun integrated system testing by March 2019. The Starship test flight rocket—Starhopper—will be used for initial integrated testing of the Raptor rocket engine with a flight-capable propellant structure as well as for low-altitude, low-velocity flight testing of launches and landings. It began hotfire testing in April 2019.[3] Two additional test articles, Starship orbital prototypes, are being built by competing teams in South Texas and along the space coast of Florida.[4] They are planned to be used after mid-2019 for high-altitude, high-velocity testing.[5] Integrated system testing of Starhopper, including the first flight test, began in April 2019.[6]

SpaceX is planning to launch commercial payloads using Starship no earlier than 2021.[7]

History

File:SpaceX BFR 2ndStage-Spaceship at 2017 unveiling.jpeg
The initial 2017 ship design was of carbon-composite construction with a delta wing and six Raptor engines (four vacuum and two sea-level)

The Starship engine layout and reentry aerodynamic surface designs have changed noticeably since the initial public unveiling of the 9-meter (30 ft) diameter rocket in September 2017, in order to balance objectives like payload mass, landing capabilities, and reliability.

The initial design at the unveiling showed the ship with six Raptor engines (two sea-level, four vacuum) and a delta wing with split flaps.[8]

By late 2017, SpaceX added a third sea-level engine to increase engine-out capability and allow landings with greater payload mass, bringing the total number of engines to seven.[9] Seven engines, three sea-level and four vacuum, remained the design until September 2018, when SpaceX indicated that early flights would happen with exclusively sea-level nozzle engines.

The late-2018 Starship design with seven sea-level Raptor engines and the revised aerodynamic control surface layout

In 2018, a new version of the design was revealed with the announcement of the #dearMoon project. The presentation for this mission (planned to launch in 2023) depicted the Starship with seven identical sea-level rated Raptor engines. These engines were also used in the design of the first-stage of the BFR launch vehicle, Super Heavy.[10]

In January 2019, Elon Musk announced that the Starship would no longer be made out of carbon fiber, and stainless steel would be used instead to build the Starship. Musk cited several reasons including cost, strength, and ease of production to justify making the switch.[11]

In May 2019, the Starship design changed back to just six Raptor engines, with three optimized for sea-level and three optimized for vacuum.[12]

By late May 2019, the first prototype, Starhopper, was preparing for untethered flight tests in early June in South Texas, while two orbital prototypes were under construction, one in South Texas and one on the Florida space coast. The build of the first Super Heavy booster stage was expected to be underway by September.[6] Neither of the two orbital prototypes yet had aerodynamic control surfaces nor landing legs added to the under construction tank structures, and Musk indicated that the design for both would be changing once again.[13]

By June 2019, SpaceX publicly announced discussions had begun with three telecom companies for using Starship, rather than Falcon 9, for launching commercial satellites for paying customers as early as 2021. No specific companies or launch contracts were announced at that time.[7]

Description

Starship is a 9-meter (30 ft)-diameter, 55-meter (180 ft)-tall,[10] fully reusable rocket design with a dry mass of 85,000 kg (187,393 lb),[14] powered by six methane/oxygen-propellant Raptor engines.[12] Total Starship thrust is approximately 11,500 kN; 2,600,000 lbf (1,170 tf).

Unusual for previous launch vehicle and spacecraft designs, Starship is to function as both a second stage for the BFR launch vehicle that provides acceleration to orbital velocity on all launches from Earth, and yet will also be used in space as an on-orbit long-duration spacecraft.[10][14]

The Starship design is intended to be fully reusable even when used as a second stage for orbital ascent from Earth. Starship is being designed so as to be capable of reentering Earth's atmosphere from orbital velocities and landing vertically, with a design goal of rapid reusability.

As announced in May 2019,[12] Starship will use three sea-level optimized Raptor engines and three vacuum-optimized Raptor engines. The sea-level engines are identical to the engines on the first-stage of the BFR launch vehicle, Super Heavy.[10] Subsequent versions for interplanetary travel are expected to utilize a vacuum-optimized Raptor engine variant to optimize specific impulse (Isp).

Starship will eventually be built in at least three operational versions:[15]

  • spaceship: a large, long-duration spacecraft capable of carrying passengers[15] or cargo to interplanetary destinations, to LEO, or between destinations on Earth.
  • satellite delivery spacecraft: a vehicle able to transport and place spacecraft into orbit[7], or handle the in-space recovery of spacecraft and space debris for return to Earth or movement to another orbit. In the 2017 early design concept, this was shown with a with a large cargo bay door that can open in space to facilitate delivery and pickup of cargo.[15]
  • tanker: a cargo-only propellant tanker to support the refilling of propellants in Earth orbit. The tanker will enable launching a heavy spacecraft to interplanetary space as the spacecraft being refueled can use its tanks twice, first to reach LEO and afterwards to leave Earth orbit. The tanker variant, also required for high-payload lunar flights, is expected to come only later; initial in-space propellant transfer will be from one standard Starship to another.[16]

Major characteristics of Starship include:[17][15][18][14]

  • being designed such that the ship can return from Earth orbit and land near the launch mount using retropropulsive landing and the reusable launch vehicle technologies developed earlier by SpaceX
  • landing reliability is projected by SpaceX to ultimately be able to achieve "airline levels" of safety due to engine-out capability.
  • rendezvous and docking operations will be automated
  • on-orbit propellant transfers from Starship tankers to Starship spaceships or cargo spaceships, but initially from one standard orbital Starship to another.[16]
  • a Starship and its payload will be able to transit to the Moon or fly to Mars after on-orbit propellant loading
  • stainless steel structure and tank construction. Its strength-to-mass ratio is comparable to or better than the earlier SpaceX design alternative of carbon fiber composites across the anticipated temperature ranges, from the low temperatures of cryogenic propellants to the high temperatures of atmospheric reentry[19]
  • some parts of the craft will be built with a stainless steel alloy that "has undergone [a type of] cryogenic treatment, in which metals are ... cold-formed/worked [to produce a] cryo-treated steel ... dramatically lighter and more wear-resistant than traditional hot-rolled steel."[19]
  • the thermal protection system against the harsh conditions of atmospheric reentry will utilize a double stainless-steel skin with active coolant flowing in between the two layers. Hexagonal stainless steel tiles will blanket the windward side of Starship, and some areas will additionally contain multiple small pores that will allow for transpiration cooling.[3][20][21]
  • as envisioned in the 2017 design unveiling, the Starship is to have a pressurized volume of approximately 1,000 m3 (35,000 cu ft), which could be configured for up to 40 cabins, large common areas, central storage, a galley, and a solar flare shelter for Mars missions plus 12 unpressurized aft cargo containers of 88 m3 (3,100 cu ft) total.[14]
  • flexible design options; for example, a possible design modification to the base Starship—expendable 3-engine Starship with no fairing, canards, rear fins, nor landing legs—to optimize mass ratio for interplanetary exploration with robotic probes.[22]

When Starship is used for BEO launches to Mars, the functioning of the overall expedition system will necessarily include propellant production on the Mars surface. This is necessary for the return trip and to reuse the spaceship to keep costs as low as possible. Lunar destinations (circumlunar flybys, orbits and landings) will be possible without lunar-propellant depots, so long as the spaceship is refueled in a high-elliptical orbit before the lunar transit begins.[15] Some lunar flybys will be possible without orbital refueling as evidenced by the mission profile of the #dearMoon project.[23]

Starship specifications (planned)

Data from [12]

General characteristics

  • Capacity: ≤ 100 people
  • Diameter: 9 m (29 ft 6 in) [10]
  • Height: 55 m (180 ft 5 in) [10]
  • Volume: 1,000 m3 (35,000 cu ft) [14]
  • Empty weight: 85,000 kg (187,393 lb) [8]
  • Gross weight: 1,335,000 kg (2,943,171 lb) [8]
  • Fuel capacity: 1,100,000 kg (2,400,000 lb)
  • Powerplant: 3 × Raptor rocket engine
  • Powerplant: 3 × RaptorVac rocket engine

Prototypes

Two test articles were being built by March 2019, and three by May.[4] The low-altitude, low-velocity Starship test flight rocket was used for initial integrated testing of the Raptor rocket engine with a flight-capable propellant structure, and will test the newly designed autogenous pressurization system that is replacing traditional helium tank pressurization as well as initial launch and landing algorithms for the much larger 9-meter-diameter rocket. SpaceX originally developed their reusable booster technology for the 3-meter-diameter Falcon 9 from 2012 to 2018. It will also be the platform for the first flight tests of the full-flow staged combustion methalox Raptor engines, where the hopper vehicle is expected to be flight tested with up to three engines to facilitate engine-out tolerance testing.[3]

The high-altitude, high-velocity Starship orbital prototypes will be used to develop and flight test novel thermal protection systems and hypersonic reentry control surfaces.[3] Each orbital prototype is expected to be outfitted with more than three Raptor engines.

Starhopper

The construction of the initial test article—the "Starship test flight rocket"[24] "test hopper,"[25] "Starship Hopper"[26] or "Starhopper"[5][27] —was begun in early December 2018 and the external frame and skin was complete by 10 January 2019. Constructed outside in the open on a SpaceX property just two miles from Boca Chica Beach in South Texas, the external body of the rocket rapidly came together in less than six weeks. Originally thought by watchers of construction at the SpaceX South Texas Launch Site to be the initial construction of a large water tower, the stainless steel vehicle was built by welders and construction workers in more of a shipyard form of construction than traditional aerospace manufacturing. The full Starhopper vehicle is 9 meters (30 ft) in diameter and was originally 39 meters (128 ft) tall in January 2019.[25][19] Subsequent wind damage to the nose cone of the vehicle resulted in a SpaceX decision to scrap the nose section, and fly the low-velocity hopper tests with no nose cone, resulting in a much shorter test vehicle.[28]

From mid-January to early-March, a major focus of the manufacture of the test article was to complete the pressure vessel construction for the liquid methane and liquid oxygen tanks, including plumbing up the system, and moving the lower tank section of the vehicle two miles to the launch pad on 8 March.[29] Following initial integrated system testing of the Starhopper test vehicle with Raptor engine serial number 2 engine (Raptor S/N 2) in early April, the engine was removed for post-test analysis and several additions were made to the Starhopper. Attitude control system thrusters were added to the rocket, along with shock absorbers for the non-retractable landing legs, and quick-disconnect connections for umbilicals. Raptor S/N 4 was installed in early June for fit checks, but the first test flight that is not tethered was expected to fly with Raptor S/N 5,[28] until it suffered damage during testing at SpaceX Rocket Development and Test Facility, in McGregor, Texas. Actually, the engine that will be used in Starship Hopper for the first untethered flights will be Raptor S/N 6.[30]

The test article will be used to flight test a number of subsystems of the Starship and will be used to expand the flight envelope as the Starship design will be finalized.[25][31][32] Initial tests began in March 2019.[33] All test flights of the "test hopper"[25] will be at low altitude, under 5 kilometers (16,000 ft).[34] On 3 April 2019, SpaceX conducted a successful static fire test in Texas of its Starhopper vehicle, which ignited the engine while the vehicle remained tethered to the ground.[35] On 21 June 2019, the FAA issued a one-year experimental permit to fly Starhopper at Boca Chica including pre-flight and post-flight ground operations.[36] See Testing section below for full testing history and details.

Starship orbital prototypes

Two orbital prototype ships—referred to as Mk1 or Mk I,[37] and Mk2[6]—are under construction as of May 2019, one in South Texas and one on the space coast of Florida.

Initial construction was underway by December 2018 when subsections of a Starship orbital prototype—also referred to as the "Starship Mk I orbital design" were stated to be under construction in California.[37] Planned for high-altitude and high-velocity testing,[38] the orbital prototype will be taller than the suborbital hopper, have thicker skins, and a smoothly curving nose section.[39] Both prototypes will fly test flights with at least three Raptor engines, and possibly all six.[6][40][6]

By March 2019, construction of the full external structure and propellant tanks of the first orbital prototype ("Mk 1"[40]) was well underway at the SpaceX "ad-hoc South Texas 'shipyard'," with an expectation that the vehicle could be complete and ready to begin testing as early as June.[41] The new build of additional 9-meter diameter stainless steel structures in South Texas in late February was originally misattributed and thought to be a second and more substantial version of the Starhopper's upper section, following the destruction of the first Starhopper upper section, damaged by high winds in January.[29] The Mk1 prototype will fly with three Raptor engines.[42]

By May 2019, SpaceX revealed that they were building not one but two orbital prototypes, Mk1 in Texas and a second one, Mk2, in Florida. The two Starship prototypes are being constructed by competing teams, that are required to share progress, insights, and build techniques with the other team, but neither team is required to use the other team's techniques.[6][4][43]

Testing

Integrated system testing of the first Starship prototype (Starhopper)—with the newly-built ground support equipment (GSE) at the SpaceX South Texas facilities— began in March 2019. "These tests involved fueling Starhopper with LOX and liquid methane and testing the pressurization systems, observed via icing of propellant lines leading to the vehicle and the venting of cryogenic boil off at the launch/test site. ... During a period of over a week, StarHopper underwent almost daily tanking tests, wet dress rehearsals and a few pre-burner tests."[3]

The first static fire test of the Starhopper test vehicle, with a single Raptor engine attached, occurred on 3 April 2019. The firing was a few seconds duration, and was classed as successful by SpaceX.[3] A second tethered test followed just two days later, on 5 April.[4][44]

(As of May 2019), SpaceX is planning flight tests both in South Texas and on the Florida space coast.[43] with the first test flights in Texas—nominally aiming for height of 20 m (66 ft), which is expected from mid-July.[28][6]

Test № Date Vehicle Orbital/suborbital (height) Duration Remarks
1 3 April 2019 Starhopper Suborbital (a few centimeters). a few seconds First static fire and a tethered hop of the Starhopper. With a single Raptor engine.[28]
2 5 April 2019 Starhopper Suborbital ("hit tether limits", about 1 m or 3 ft). a few seconds Second tethered hop which hit tethered limits. With a single Raptor engine.[28]
3 16 July 2019 Starhopper Suborbital (between a few centimeters and about 1 m or 3 ft). full duration static fire (5 seconds) Single-raptor static fire occurred; followed several minutes later by the water fire suppression system on the pad coming on and the ignition of a discharge of methane around the Starhopper vehicle.[30]
c. 24 July 2019[45] Starhopper Planned ~20 m (66 ft) test flight[46][47] With a single Raptor engine.
c. 2019 Starship orbital prototype Suborbital high-altitude, high-velocity testing With three Raptor engines.
c. 2020 Orbital test vehicle. Orbital.

Intended uses

Starship is intended to become the mainline SpaceX orbital vehicle, as SpaceX has announced it intends to fully replace its existing Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon space capsule fleet with Starship/Super Heavy during the early 2020s.[48][15][8]:24:50–27:05

Starship will be utilized for:[48][17]

  • legacy Earth-orbit satellite delivery market. In addition to the standard external launch market that SpaceX has been servicing since 2013, the company intends to use Super Heavy/Starship to most cost-effectively launch the largest portion of its own satellite internet constellation, Starlink, with more than 12,000 satellites intended to be launched by 2026, more than six times the total number of active satellites on orbit in 2018.[49]
  • long-duration spaceflights in the cislunar region
  • Mars transportation, both as cargo ships as well as passenger-carrying transport
  • long-duration flights to the outer planets, for cargo and astronauts[50]

In 2017, SpaceX mentioned the theoretical ability of using a boosted Starship to carry passengers on suborbital flights between two points on Earth in under one hour, providing commercial long-haul transport on Earth, competing with long-range aircraft.[51][52] SpaceX however announced no concrete plans to pursue this two stage "Earth-to-Earth" possibility.[31][53] use of BFR.[8] Over two years later, in May 2019, Musk floated the idea of using single-stage Starship to travel up to 10,000 kilometers (6,200 mi) on Earth-to-Earth flights at speeds approaching Mach 20 (6.8 km/s; 25,000 km/h; 15,000 mph) with an acceptable payload saying it "dramatically improves cost, complexity & ease of operations."[54]

See also

  • ITS — an earlier SpaceX concept for a much larger but similar spaceship

References

  1. ↑ Lawler, Richard (20 November 2018). "SpaceX BFR has a new name: Starship". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2018/11/20/starship-bfr-spacex/. Retrieved 21 November 2018. 
  2. ↑ Boyle, Alan (19 November 2018). "Goodbye, BFR … hello, Starship: Elon Musk gives a classic name to his Mars spaceship". GeekWire. https://www.geekwire.com/2018/goodbye-bfr-hello-starship-elon-musk-gives-classic-name-mars-spaceship/. Retrieved 22 November 2018. "Starship is the spaceship/upper stage & Super Heavy is the rocket booster needed to escape Earth’s deep gravity well (not needed for other planets or moons)" 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Gebhardt, Chris (3 April 2019). "Starhopper conducts Raptor Static Fire test". NASASpaceFlight.com. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/04/starhopper-first-flight-starship-superheavy-updates/. Retrieved 4 April 2019. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 SpaceX considering SSTO Starship launches from Pad 39A, Michael Baylor, NASASpaceFlight.com, 17 May 2019, accessed 18 May 2019.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ralph, Eric (12 March 2019). "SpaceX begins static Starhopper tests as Raptor engine arrives on schedule". Teslarati. https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starhopper-static-tests/. Retrieved 22 March 2019. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Gray, Tyler (28 May 2019). "SpaceX ramps up operations in South Texas as Hopper tests loom". NASASpaceFlight.com. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/05/spacex-ramps-up-hopper-tests-loom/. Retrieved 30 May 2019. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Henry, Caleb (28 June 2019). "SpaceX targets 2021 commercial Starship launch". SpaceNews. https://spacenews.com/spacex-targets-2021-commercial-starship-launch/. Retrieved 29 June 2019. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Elon Musk (29 September 2017). Becoming a Multiplanet Species (video). 68th annual meeting of the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia: SpaceX. Retrieved 30 March 2019 – via YouTube.CS1 maint: location (link)
  9. ↑ Jeff Foust (15 October 2017). "Musk offers more technical details on BFR system". SpaceNews. http://spacenews.com/musk-offers-more-technical-details-on-bfr-system/. Retrieved 27 May 2019. "[Musk] added that, since the presentation last month, SpaceX has revised the design of the BFR spaceship to add a "medium area ratio" Raptor engine to its original complement of two engines with sea-level nozzles and four with vacuum nozzles. That additional engine helps enable that engine-out capability ... and will "allow landings with higher payload mass for the Earth to Earth transport function."" 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Musk, Elon (September 17, 2018). First Private Passenger on Lunar BFR Mission. SpaceX. Retrieved September 18, 2018 – via YouTube.
  11. ↑ D'Agostino, As told to Ryan (2019-01-22). "Elon Musk: Why I'm Building the Starship out of Stainless Steel" (in en-US). https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a25953663/elon-musk-spacex-bfr-stainless-steel/. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Elon Musk on Twitter: 3 sea level optimized Raptors, 3 vacuum optimized Raptors (big nozzle)
  13. ↑ @elonmusk (30 May 2019). "Wings/flaps & leg design changing again (sigh). Doesn’t affect schedule much though.". https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1134019585638785025. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 "Making Life Multiplanetary: Abridged transcript of Elon Musk's presentation to the 68th International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia". SpaceX. September 2017. http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/making_life_multiplanetary_transcript_2017.pdf. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 Musk, Elon (1 March 2018). "Making Life Multi-Planetary". New Space 6 (1): 2–11. doi:10.1089/space.2018.29013.emu. Bibcode: 2018NewSp...6....2M. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Orbital refilling is critical for high payload to moon or Mars. Initially just Starship to Starship, later dedicated tankers.", Elon Musk, Twitter, 21 July 2019, accessed 22 July 2019.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Gaynor, Phillip (9 August 2018). "The Evolution of the Big Falcon Rocket". NASASpaceFlight.com. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/08/evolution-big-falcon-rocket/. Retrieved 30 March 2019. 
  18. ↑ Jeff Foust (15 October 2017). "Musk offers more technical details on BFR system". SpaceNews. http://spacenews.com/musk-offers-more-technical-details-on-bfr-system/. Retrieved 15 October 2017. "[Musk wrote,] "The flight engine design is much lighter and tighter, and is extremely focused on reliability."" 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Ralph, Eric (24 December 2018). "SpaceX CEO Elon Musk: Starship prototype to have 3 Raptors and “mirror finish”". Teslarati. https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-elon-musk-starship-prototype-three-raptors-mirror-finish/. Retrieved 24 December 2018. 
  20. ↑ SpaceX Starship Will "Bleed Water" From Tiny Holes, Says Elon Musk. Kristin Houser, Futurism. 22 January 2019.
  21. ↑ SpaceX CEO Elon Musk explains Starship's "transpiring" steel heat shield in Q&A. Eric Ralph, Teslarati News. 23 January 2019.
  22. ↑ Ralph, Eric (1 April 2019). "SpaceX CEO Elon Musk proposes Starship, Starlink tech for Solar System tour". Teslarati. https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-starlink-solar-system-tour/. Retrieved 3 April 2019. 
  23. ↑ First Private Passenger on Lunar BFR Mission. Press conference streamed live at YouTube by SpaceX. 17 September 2018.
  24. ↑ Murphy, Mike (10 January 2019). "Elon Musk shows off SpaceX’s massive Starship test rocket". MarketWatch. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-shows-off-spacexs-massive-starship-test-rocket-2019-01-10. Retrieved 3 June 2019. 
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Berger, Eric (8 January 2019). "Here’s why Elon Musk is tweeting constantly about a stainless-steel starship". Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/01/elon-musk-is-really-really-excited-about-his-starship/. Retrieved 12 January 2019. 
  26. ↑ Commercial Space Transportation Experimental Permit -- Experimental Permit Number: EP19-012, FAA, 21 June 2019, accessed 29 June 2019.
  27. ↑ Gebhardt, Chris (18 March 2019). "Starhopper first flight as early as this week; Starship/Superheavy updates". NASASpaceFlight.com. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/03/starhopper-first-flight-starship-superheavy-updates/. Retrieved 22 March 2019. 
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 Baylor, Michael (2 June 2019). "SpaceX readying Starhopper for hops in Texas as Pad 39A plans materialize in Florida". NASASpaceFlight.com. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/06/spacex-starhopper-hops-texas-pad-39a-plans-materialize-florida/. Retrieved 3 June 2019. 
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Ralph, Eric (9 March 2019). "SpaceX's Starship prototype moved to launch pad on new rocket transporter". Teslarati. https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-launch-pad-transport/. Retrieved 22 March 2019. 
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Burghardt, Thomas (16 July 2019). "Starhopper fires up for an eventful Static Fire test". NASASpaceFlight.com. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/07/spacex-resume-starhopper-tests/. Retrieved 17 July 2019. 
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Jeff Foust (15 October 2017). "Musk offers more technical details on BFR system". SpaceNews. http://spacenews.com/musk-offers-more-technical-details-on-bfr-system/. Retrieved 15 October 2017. "[The] spaceship portion of the BFR, which would transport people on point-to-point suborbital flights or on missions to the moon or Mars, will be tested on Earth first in a series of short hops. ... a full-scale Ship doing short hops of a few hundred kilometers altitude and lateral distance ... fairly easy on the vehicle, as no heat shield is needed, we can have a large amount of reserve propellant and don't need the high area ratio, deep space Raptor engines." 
  32. ↑ Foust, Jeff (12 March 2018). "Musk reiterates plans for testing BFR". SpaceNews. http://spacenews.com/musk-reiterates-plans-for-testing-bfr/. Retrieved 15 March 2018. "Construction of the first prototype spaceship is in progress. 'We're actually building that ship right now,' he said. 'I think we'll probably be able to do short flights, short sort of up-and-down flights, probably sometime in the first half of next year.'" 
  33. ↑ "SpaceX's Starship hopper steps towards first hop with several cautious tests". Teslarati. 29 March 2019. https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-hopper-cautious-testing/. Retrieved 31 March 2019. 
  34. ↑ Foust, Jeff (24 December 2018). "Musk teases new details about redesigned next-generation launch system". SpaceNews. https://spacenews.com/musk-teases-new-details-about-redesigned-next-generation-launch-system/. Retrieved 25 December 2018. 
  35. ↑ Grush, Loren (3 April 2019). "SpaceX just fired up the engine on its test Starship vehicle for the first time". https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/3/18271547/spacex-starship-starhopper-raptor-engine-ignition-hop-static-fire-test. 
  36. ↑ "Commercial Space Transportation Experimental Permit, No. EP19-012". Office of Commercial Space Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. 21 June 2019. https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/licenses_permits/media/Final%20Experimental%20Permit%20and%20Orders%20EP%2019-012%20Starship%20Hopper%20(06-21-2019).pdf. Retrieved 11 July 2019. 
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 @elonmusk (22 December 2018). "We're building subsections of the Starship Mk I orbital design there [in San Pedro"]. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1076611280700530688. 
  38. ↑ Elon Musk [@elonmusk] (10 January 2019). "Should be done with first orbital prototype around June". https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1083575233423003648. 
  39. ↑ Kanter, Jake (11 January 2019). "Elon Musk released a photo of his latest rocket, and it already delivers on his promise of looking like liquid silver". Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-released-a-photo-spacexs-test-hopper-rocket-2019-1. Retrieved 13 January 2019. 
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Elon Musk [@elonmusk] (22 May 2019). "Mk1 & Mk2 ships at Boca & Cape will fly with at least 3 engines, maybe all 6". https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1131429223258677248. 
  41. ↑ Ralph, Eric (26 March 2019). "SpaceX’s steel Starship glows during Earth reentry in first high-quality render". Teslarati. https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-official-render/. Retrieved 28 March 2019. 
  42. ↑ https://twitter.com/flcnhvy/status/1149572555306438656
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Berger, Eric (15 May 2019). "SpaceX plans to A/B test its Starship rocketship builds". Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/05/spacex-plans-to-ab-test-its-starship-rocketship-builds/. Retrieved 20 May 2019. 
  44. ↑ NSF, Chris B.- (5 April 2019). "StarHopper enjoys second Raptor Static Fire!". https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1114372086208827392. Retrieved 23 May 2019. 
  45. ↑ https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1151950516093456384
  46. ↑ Elon Musk on Twitter: Raptor engine mounted on Starhopper. Aiming for hover test Tues.
  47. ↑ Elon Musk on Twitter: ~20m up & sideways for first flight. Mk1 Starship hopefully 20km up in a few months.
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 Chris Gebhardt (29 September 2017). "The Moon, Mars, & around the Earth – Musk updates BFR architecture, plans". https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/09/the-moon-mars-earth-musk-updates-bfr-plans/. Retrieved 30 March 2019. 
  49. ↑ Smith, Rich (8 December 2018). "A Renamed BFR Could Be Key to SpaceX's Satellite Internet Dream". The Motley Fool. https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/12/08/renamed-bfr-could-be-key-spacexs-satellite-interne.aspx. Retrieved 6 April 2019. 
  50. ↑ @elonmusk (12 May 2018). "SpaceX will prob build 30 to 40 rocket cores for ~300 missions over 5 years. Then BFR takes over & Falcon retires. Goal of BFR is to enable anyone to move to moon, Mars & eventually outer planets.". https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/995462943079723008. 
  51. ↑ Sheetz, Michael (18 March 2019). "Super fast travel using outer space could be $20 billion market, disrupting airlines, UBS predicts". CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/18/ubs-space-travel-and-space-tourism-a-23-billion-business-in-a-decade.html. Retrieved 30 March 2019. 
  52. ↑ Elon Musk (28 September 2017). BFR Earth to Earth (video). SpaceX. Event occurs at 1:45. Retrieved 30 March 2019 – via YouTube.
  53. ↑ Neil Strauss (15 November 2017). "Elon Musk: The Architect of Tomorrow". Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/elon-musk-inventors-plans-for-outer-space-cars-finding-love-w511747. Retrieved 30 March 2019. 
  54. ↑ Ralph, Eric (30 May 2019). "SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wants to use Starships as Earth-to-Earth transports". Teslarati. https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-elon-musk-wants-starship-spaceliners/. Retrieved 31 May 2019. 




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