Elon Musk has publicly declared that at 5000 tons, Starship is the largest flying object ever made, is this a fact or a bluff?
According to the full tweet “At 5000 tons, Starship is the largest flying object ever made. Thrust is more than double the Saturn V moon rocket. It is the first spaceship design capable of making life multi-planetary. Goal of the next mission is to make it through the meteorically extreme heat of reentry.”
Let’s understudy this magnificent object to help prove or disprove Elon’s claim.
What to know about SpaceX Starship (the biggest flying object ever made)
In the early 2010s, the CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk, conceived and began to nurse a dream so wild that it took guts to dream in the first instance, his simple yet wild dream was to colonize Mars which set his sights on a new spacecraft concept, a concept which he named Starship.
In 2012, this idea developed into a project. Musk imagined a reusable rocket system that would be more effective than the mighty Falcon 9 and the soon-to-be-released Falcon Heavy rockets.
Numerous alterations and monikers were applied to the design during the process. It was dubbed the Big Fucking Rocket (BFR) at one point, then later the Interplanetary Transport System, then the Mars Colonial Transporter.
In 2018, the design finally solidified into what we know as SpaceX Starship today.
Together, Starship and Super Heavy constitute the world’s highest launch vehicle, measuring an astounding 120 meters (390 feet) when stacked. With the same 9-meter (30-foot) width, both Starship stages are incredibly large rockets.
With a weight of about 5,000 tons (11,000,000 pounds), the fully fueled Starship is a formidable opponent. This makes it the unchallenged heavyweight champion of reusable spacecraft ever built by humans, unlike the majority of rockets (except permanent space stations, of course). Due to their ability to be recovered after a mission, both stages enable more economical launches and faster turnaround times.
The Starship is intended to replace the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, which are currently SpaceX’s workhorses. It will be crucial to growing SpaceX’s Starlink constellation of satellites, probably by launching numerous satellites at once.
Establish a Human Presence on Mars
The cornerstone of SpaceX’s audacious plan is also the establishment of a human presence on Mars, with the expectation that personnel will be able to with Mars as well as Earth, providing opportunities for deep space exploration.
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The space travel of starships has been filled with both successes and failures. As of right now, the program has successfully launched one time (IFT-3), however its two prior attempts (IFT-1 and IFT-2) failed to make a successful landing. Two launches have occurred so far: the first on April 20, 2023, and the most recent on March 14, 2024.
The recent launch of Starship was a noteworthy achievement. It made it to the vastness of space, but the journey back concluded with a splashdown into the ocean.
Even if the most recent launch did not result in a flawless landing, it was nevertheless a huge step forward for SpaceX in contrast to earlier efforts.
SpaceX’s Starship Technical Components
The two components that makeup SpaceX’s Starship’s technical components are the Super Heavy booster, which stands 71 meters tall and has 33 Raptor engines that provide a powerful 7,590 tons of thrust. Its spacecraft includes a sleek upper stage that reaches a height of 50 meters at the same time. The Starship is equipped with a heat-resistant thermal protection system to withstand atmospheric reentry and a combination of three Raptor engines and three vacuum engines for deep space flight. The Starship is also built to perform intricate landing flips and maneuvers.
SpaceX’s Starship Challenges
The evolution of Starship has not always been easy. As with any project, there have been disappointments, such as the February 2020 dramatic explosion of the SN1 tank during a pressure test.
In April 2020, the project also had another setback with the regrettable collapse of the SN3 under cryogenic pressure. An explosion even occurred during SN11’s high-altitude flight test.
But SpaceX uses these disappointments as fuel to forge ahead and improve the design of Starship. SN15’s recent success is evidence of this continuous trend.
Notwithstanding the glitches, Starship is a huge advancement in space travel. The world is enthralled with its audacious plans to carry humans to Mars and beyond.
Conclusion
We opened with a statement from Elon Musk where he stated that At 5000 tons, Starship is the largest flying object ever made. With the points above it is easy to agree with him on this one and we can only but watch to see what becomes of this huge project with Elon behind the driving wheel.