The Starship Revolution in Space - 99% Lower Cost Compared To NASA
Posted by freedomforall 1 day, 4 hours ago to Technology
Excerpt:
"SpaceX took a big step towards full reusability of space launchers on 13 October, a step towards a transformation in accessing space far more cheaply, frequently and with big payloads.
The remarkably successful fifth test flight of the Starship launcher on that day saw a spectacular recovery of the rocket’s 300-ton first stage, Super Heavy, into the arms of the launch pad gantry. The second stage, also called Starship, meanwhile climbed and accelerated to almost orbital velocity and splashed down precisely in the targeted Indian Ocean location off Western Australia. This took the company closer to landing second stages for re-use.
The full reusability of Starship will dramatically reduce launch costs. That means it’s possible to consider new types of activity in space that simply were not viable technologically or were too expensive with past launch architecture.
Most of the envisaged applications are civilian, but possible military applications include launching surveillance and other satellites far more cheaply, and therefore in greater numbers, and even urgent delivery of large payloads across Earth with suborbital flights.
Once SpaceX achieves the capability for one Starship to take fuel from others in orbit, a single mission will be able to deliver up to 100 metric tons or 100 people to the Moon, to Mars and potentially beyond.
The cost of launch matters. Only the first stage of SpaceX’s existing Falcon launcher returns for re-use, yet that rocket has driven launch costs down to U.S.$2720 per kilogram from the U.S.$25,000 per kg that users paid for NASA Space Shuttle flights. The total cost of a Falcon launch is about U.S.$67 million.
Because no hardware will be lost on a Starship flight, the only costs will be fuel, maintenance and use of the pad: U.S.$10 million or less per launch for a future Starship version and, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, eventually U.S.$2 million to U.S.$3 million. That suggests a launch cost of U.S.$100 to U.S.$200 per kg.
Compare this with NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rockets, which will be fully expended on each mission, except for their Orion crew capsules. They will initially cost U.S.$4 billion per launch and may end up around U.S.$2.5 billion. NASA will launch only one SLS per year, at best."
"SpaceX took a big step towards full reusability of space launchers on 13 October, a step towards a transformation in accessing space far more cheaply, frequently and with big payloads.
The remarkably successful fifth test flight of the Starship launcher on that day saw a spectacular recovery of the rocket’s 300-ton first stage, Super Heavy, into the arms of the launch pad gantry. The second stage, also called Starship, meanwhile climbed and accelerated to almost orbital velocity and splashed down precisely in the targeted Indian Ocean location off Western Australia. This took the company closer to landing second stages for re-use.
The full reusability of Starship will dramatically reduce launch costs. That means it’s possible to consider new types of activity in space that simply were not viable technologically or were too expensive with past launch architecture.
Most of the envisaged applications are civilian, but possible military applications include launching surveillance and other satellites far more cheaply, and therefore in greater numbers, and even urgent delivery of large payloads across Earth with suborbital flights.
Once SpaceX achieves the capability for one Starship to take fuel from others in orbit, a single mission will be able to deliver up to 100 metric tons or 100 people to the Moon, to Mars and potentially beyond.
The cost of launch matters. Only the first stage of SpaceX’s existing Falcon launcher returns for re-use, yet that rocket has driven launch costs down to U.S.$2720 per kilogram from the U.S.$25,000 per kg that users paid for NASA Space Shuttle flights. The total cost of a Falcon launch is about U.S.$67 million.
Because no hardware will be lost on a Starship flight, the only costs will be fuel, maintenance and use of the pad: U.S.$10 million or less per launch for a future Starship version and, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, eventually U.S.$2 million to U.S.$3 million. That suggests a launch cost of U.S.$100 to U.S.$200 per kg.
Compare this with NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rockets, which will be fully expended on each mission, except for their Orion crew capsules. They will initially cost U.S.$4 billion per launch and may end up around U.S.$2.5 billion. NASA will launch only one SLS per year, at best."
FEMA, are you losers listening?