How It Works

ELON’S STARSHIP

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Sending rockets into space and having them land safely back on Earth is one thing, but what about landing on other worlds? Another of Spacex’s creations is the Starship, currently in its 15th iteration, which combines a Starship spacecraft and a Super Heavy rocket. Like the Falcon 9, the Super Heavy is a reusable rocket, designed to deliver cargo or human crews through Earth’s atmosphere and on to Mars.

The rocket has been designed to carry more than 100 tonnes into Earth orbit. Both the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy rocket have been designed to be able to self park on other worlds. In a mission to the Moon or Mars, the first stage of the Super Heavy rocket propels its cargo into Earth orbit and beyond – burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen as fuel. Once the Starship spacecraft – the second stage – is separated, the Super Heavy rocket will propel itself back to the launchpad while the Starship journeys onto Mars.

Much like the smaller Falcon 9, the launch vehicle can autonomous­ly land at a new location. On 5 May

2021, the Starship SN15 completed its fifth high-altitude test flight – reaching around 6.2 miles. The Super Heavy rocket is due to complete its first Earth orbital test flight some time in 2022.

 ?? ?? The tenth version of Spacex’s Starship in flight
The tenth version of Spacex’s Starship in flight

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