The SpaceX rockets that could reach Mars are beginning to take shape. Recently, CEO Elon Musk shared an illustration of what the test version of the Starship will look like, showcasing a creative design. The rocket, aimed at completing tests later this year, is a scaled-down prototype of the one intended to carry the first humans to Mars.
Elon Musk published an image of the rocket under construction at the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and at its test site in southern Texas, near the border town of Brownsville. He also described it as looking like “liquid silver.”
This test rocket will undergo short flights to demonstrate its efficiency. According to experts, the stainless steel used looks incredible and represents a radical shift from the carbon fiber construction used in the Falcon 9. It’s reminiscent of NASA’s Atlas rockets from the 1950s — although those designs struggled when depressurization caused them to collapse on the launch pad. The current version is expected to avoid these pitfalls thanks to a metal that, according to Musk, “varies significantly depending on the load.”
SpaceX needs this project to succeed if it hopes to carry out its most ambitious missions. The rocket now known as Starship was first revealed at the International Astronautical Congress in September 2017 under the name “BFR” (Big Falcon Rocket), with a reusable design that could allow humans to travel to Mars and refuel with liquid oxygen and methane harvested from the planet’s atmosphere. The billionaire’s company plans to send two uncrewed spacecraft to Mars by 2022, followed by two uncrewed and two crewed missions in 2024. The company also aims to send Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa on a trip around the moon in 2023, accompanied by a team of artists as part of a unique project.
Starship is the name given to the second stage of SpaceX’s future rocket design. The first stage is now referred to as Super Heavy. The combination of the two was previously known as BFR before November 2018.
Although photos from the test site show major structures still incomplete, Musk stated on Sunday that the team plans to launch the rocket in just four weeks, with a possible delay pushing it to eight weeks.
The prototype is eye-catching, and despite being an early version, it will have a 30-foot diameter. The goal is to perform suborbital flights to confirm the project’s effectiveness before proceeding to orbital missions still planned for 2020.
Once operational, both Starship and Super Heavy will rely on the company’s powerful Raptor engine, which is currently in development. The engines used in the Starship test vehicle will be “a mix of development and operational Raptor parts,” Musk mentioned in another tweet. The first of these engines will likely be tested soon, he added.
Meanwhile, the company continues using Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets for missions, including the upcoming test launch of its Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station. The Starship prototype will not have windows, Musk confirmed on Twitter.
