Starship is planned to be a fully reusablesuper heavy-lift launch vehicle[8] and unusual for previous launch vehicle and spacecraft designs, the upper stage of Starship is intended to function both as a second stage to reach orbital velocity on launches from Earth, and also be used in outer space as an on-orbit long-duration spacecraft. It is also planned to take people to Mars and beyond into the Solar System.[9]
In July 2020, SpaceX anticipated a cargo Starship mission to Mars as early as 2022, followed by a crewed Starship mission to Mars in 2024.[12] As of 16 October 2020, the cargo flight will happen in 2024/5 and the crewed flight in 2026/7.[13]
As of April 2021[update], the Starships SN16–SN20[14] and Super Heavy Boosters BN2 and BN3[15] are currently in production.[15] All flights have been launched at the Boca Chica launch site in Texas,[16] which SpaceX began to refer to as Starbase after March 2021.[17][18]
Eight prototype Starship vehicles, each with different vehicle configurations, have flown nine suborbital test flights in the period July 2019 to May 2021. SpaceX testing is proprietary, and the company does not release a detailed set of test objectives for their vehicle development test flights. All test flights have been launched from the SpaceX South Texas launch site at Boca Chica, South Texas.[19]
Comparison of launch vehicles. Show payload masses to LEO, GTO, TLI and MTO
The first firing of Starhopper and the first tethered hop (according to Musk[20][21]). The firing was a few seconds in duration and the vehicle was tethered to the ground. The vehicle might have lifted off the ground, but only to the height of few inches, and it was not possible to see the lift off in public video recordings of the test.[21][22]
Three Raptor engines, SN30, SN36, and SN42.[35] The vehicle successfully launched, ascended, performed the skydive descent maneuver, relit the engines fueled by the header tanks, and steered to the landing pad.[34] The flip maneuver from horizontal descent to vertical was successful. Low pressure in the fuel header tank as a result of the flip maneuver caused engine issues and insufficient retropropulsive deceleration, resulting in a hard landing and destruction of SN8.[34]
Three Raptor engines, including SN45 and SN49.[38][39][40][41] A hard landing destroyed SN9.[42] The cause of the crash was one of the engines not relighting due to an issue with the oxygen preburner.
SN10 experienced a hard landing with a slight lean and a fire near the base,[49] and then exploded eight minutes after landing.[undue weight? – discuss][45] The thrust was too low causing the legs & part of the skirt to get crushed. The cause was probably due to partial helium ingestion from the fuel header tank.[47]
SN11 launched in heavy fog, and had engine issues during ascent according to Elon Musk.[52] Telemetry was lost midair at T+5:49, shortly after engine re-ignition to perform landing procedures and around 2,000 feet in the air.[53][failed verification] Debris was then seen falling from the sky, indicating that the vehicle had exploded mid-air.[54] Elon Musk stated that a small methane leak caused a fire on one of the Raptor engines which then eventually fried the avionics of the Raptor.[55]
SN15 is a new iteration of prototype Starship with many upgrades over previous vehicles.[58] SN15 launched in low level clouds and achieved a soft landing, with a small fire near the base. The post-flight fire was out within 20 minutes.[59][60]
^All launches are from the same Boca Chica site. SpaceX started calling this Starbase from March 2021 after discussions called a "casual inquiry". See Boca Chica (Texas) § Starbase
^Despite making an intact landing and beginning the detanking procedures, the vehicle suffered an explosion several minutes later destroying the vehicle in the process. SpaceX called it a successful landing but later acknowledged a problem with lower-than-expected engine thrust causing a hard landing[47] way past leg loads[48] and the vehicle exploded.[44]
Future orbital flights
Based on diverse sources over the past several years, SpaceX has on various occasions made a few public statements about preliminary ideas for future operational orbital flights using the Starship system. All dates for future flights are speculative, and therefore approximate and "no earlier than" (NET) dates. Moreover, it is difficult to compare the dates in the tables since they have come from different sources and at different times over the past three years.
Date
Vehicle
Mission
Notes
NET July 2021
Starship Prototype
Orbital Test Flight
As of March 2021, SpaceX is aiming to launch its first orbital test flight as early as July 2021.[61][62] During the initial flight, the upper stage will attempt a soft ocean landing 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Kauai, and the Super Heavy booster will attempt to land 30 km (19 mi) offshore out in the Gulf of Mexico.[b][63]
The HLS variant of Starship was selected by NASA in April 2021 to be the lander for the Artemis missions to the Moon. Artemis 3 is intended to be the first human mission to the Moon to use Starship for long-duration crewed lunar landings as part of the Artemis program.
Elon Musk has stated that Starship would fly hundreds of times before launching with humans.[70] A likely use of some of these flights would be to launch Starlink satellites.[71]
According to space journalist Mike Wall in 2020, Musk is said to envision that eventually more than 1,000 Starships could be needed to depart for Mars every 26 months, which could lead to the development of a sustainable Martian city in 50–100 years.[72]
