SpaceX Starship Missions: Redefining Humanities Reach for Mars
SpaceX’s Starship program is easily one of the most ambitious and revolutionary spaceflight efforts to occur, redefining humanity in space. This spacecraft will not only take humans to the Moon, but even someday to Mars and beyond. SpaceX developed Starship with the intention of creating a fully reusable spacecraft capable of carrying multiple payloads and up to 100 astronauts. Through the use of cutting-edge technology, Starship holds the key to interplanetary life and future colonization of planets.
Overview of SpaceX Starship
As the world’s largest and most powerful launch vehicle, Starship represents “a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond” (SpaceX, 2024). The Starship launch vehicle is separated into two separate stages; the Super Heavy booster and Starship itself. Standing at 397 feet tall it is capable of carrying more than 330,000 pounds of payload and is powered by 33 Raptor engines. Additionally, the vehicle will be capable of carrying up to 100 astronauts on a long-term interplanetary flight, which is made possible due to its large capacity and its on-orbit refilling potential.
Previous Starship Accomplishments
On April 20th, 2023, Starship’s first integrated test flight between the Super Heavy Booster and Starship occurred. Upon its launch, Starship became the largest and most powerful spacecraft to ever take flight. However, only four minutes post liftoff, the launch vehicle was destroyed due to a variety of system failures. Multiple engines either failed to start before liftoff or failed during flight, resulting in a lack of thrust and, thus, no stage separation occurred. Because of these system failures, Starship’s Autonomous Flight Termination system was triggered, resulting in the explosion only 4 minutes into flight. Despite these setbacks, SpaceX viewed the launch as a success due to the information they were able to learn, as the prototype vehicles are often subject to destructive test flights.
Starship flight test 2 occurred on November 18th, 2023. The objective of this mission was a vehicle hot stage; essentially to light only second stage engines while the lower stage was still lit. Additionally, the second stage was set to achieve a controlled reentry over the Pacific Ocean following its near orbital trajectory, with a booster splashdown back in the Gulf of Mexico. Though the launch vehicle successfully fired all 33 Raptor engines and made it to stage separation after liftoff, the booster exploded before splashdown and Starship’s second stage lit on fire due to venting of excess liquid oxygen. The Federal Communications Commission ruled this launch as a failure.
Following the failures of the first two tests. SpaceX upgraded the launch vehicle, making a total of 17 changes. For example, the ship was upgraded to electric thrust vector control, which essentially made it so the vehicle could manipulate the direction of its thrust from its engines. Additionally, the liquid oxygen venting was delayed until after the small engine cutoff marking. Test flight 3 took place on March 14th, 2024, where ignition of all 33 engines were successful though many began shutting down during flight. The booster was not able to land back in the Gulf of Mexico and was destroyed because of a blockage to the engines. The spacecraft itself reached its intended orbital velocity and successfully conducted various tests. However, upon its attempt to reenter the atmosphere, connection to the spacecraft was lost.
Starship’s fourth test flight was launched on June 6th, 2024, with ambitious goals. These goals were essential to demonstrate its ability to return and reuse the booster and the ship itself. Some of its major successes included the hot-stage separation, flip maneuver to return towards the splashdown zone, landing burns, and successful splashdowns of Starship and Super Heavy. Each of these tests were crucial for SpaceX to reach its current point of success.
Current Status of Starship
Earlier this month, Starship completed its most successful flight, test flight 5, on October 13th. In efforts to create a quickly reusable spacecraft, SpaceX aimed to return the Super Heavy Booster directly back to the launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas. Briefly hovering in midair, it was quickly captured by the mechanical arms attached to the launch tower. In order to fulfill the purpose of creating a fully reusable spacecraft, SpaceX hopes to catch the upper stage of Starship as well using the launch tower by early 2025, but for now, the upper stage landed in the Indian Ocean as it was intended to.
Additionally, the Starship program is currently in its transition phase, from prototyping to refining. Some of the key updates it is focusing on are the booster engines, launch site damages, and other environmental regulations. More specifically, the updates being made to the booster engines are designed in a more lightweight capacity in order to maximize thrust. Eventually, SpaceX aims to have up to 35 engines powering the launch system instead of only 33. Furthermore, repairs to the launch site and the environmental concerns come after the 33 Raptor engines formed a crater beneath the launch pad and scattered massive chunks of concrete and debris high into the sky and the surrounding marshes.
Next Steps in Starship’s Mission Timeline
With test flight 5 having been such an overwhelming success, all eyes are now looking to the future of Starship. Test flight 6 is currently scheduled to launch in November 2024. The objectives of this launch are quite similar to those of test 5 and include a second attempt at catching the Super Heavy Booster on the launch tower and an extended flight duration for the main stage. At this point, the main stage will still splash down in the Indian Ocean.
Another key step in its mission timeline is the third launch of the Artemis program. While this is not scheduled to occur until late 2026 Starship plays a key role in landing astronauts on the moon. Hopes are high that SpaceX will begin unmanned missions to Mars by the end of the decade and manned missions to Mars in the 2030s.
These upcoming missions are critical stepping stones for SpaceX in preparing for future orbital launches, but Starship remains a vital component of the future of the space industry and in transforming humanity into a multi-planetary species.
