SpaceX Starship users guide details how it could replace the Shuttle + offer comfy passenger flights

[Hamartia Antidote]

https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/31/s...ce-shuttle-and-offer-comfy-passenger-flights/

SpaceX has released a first version of its spacecraft user manual for Starship, the next-generation launch vehicle that it’s currently developing in Boca Chica, Texas. The manual isn’t quite as detailed as the ones that exist for SpaceX’s other, operational launch spacecraft, but it does provide a lot of insight into how SpaceX envisions Starship being used, including as a high-capacity cargo hauler, and what sounds like a relatively luxurious passenger space liner.

Starship will be able to carry up to three geosynchronous telecommunications satellites at once, or a full constellation of satellites in one go. It can even carry one or two large geosynchronous satellites and still have room left over for a full rideshare mission of small satellites at the same time. That’s a lot of added mission capability for a single flight vs. current options, which should help considerably with operational economics.

Another use that SpaceX proposes for Starship: transporting “in-space demonstration spacecraft” that remain attached and integrated with the Starship, to carry out experiments and missions and then return to Earth. This would effectively make Starship an in-space lab platform kind of like the International Space Station, but with its own delivery and return capabilities built-in.

SpaceX says that Starship will also be able to take on payloads attached to the sidewalls and nose of the spacecraft, and to its nose, in addition to on the payload adapter itself, similar to what was possible with the Space Shuttle perviously. Also like the Space Shuttle, SpaceX says that Starship should be able to accomplish missions like recovering satellites in orbit, allowing them to either be repaired on-orbit, returned to Earth, or moved to a different target orbit as needed. This is not something that’s currently possible using any other operational launch vehicles in use.

There’s also some information about proposed crew configurations for Starship for supporting passengers – SpaceX says it’ll be able to carry as many as 100 people from Earth, to both low Earth orbit and on to the Moon and Mars. Crew configuration of the vehicle will include “private cabins, large common areas, centralized storage, solar storm shelters and a viewing gallery,” the document says. SpaceX also calls out specifically the potential for point-to-point transportation use – in other words, flying from one spaceport on Earth to another in order to massively cut down on travel time by making the trip through the edge of space.

One final interesting detail: SpaceX says that it’s going to be launching from both Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Boca Chica, Texas – and that it’s also going to potentially land at both locations, which could help with increasing operational pace once there are actually a few of these built, proven and ready to fly.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1239595527114838018

 

[gangsta_rap]

What's the point?

A new Babel/Pharaoh's tower to mark the hubris of humanity. May it be ruined by the divine truths...

 

[Itachi]

What's the point?

Commercialization of Space and everything in between.

Please don't be a caveman...we live in the age of the internet...a quick google search would tell you what it's all about...along with some critical thinking.

The OP's article even gives the many "reasons"...

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Commercialization of Space and everything in between.

Please don't be a caveman...we live in the age of the internet...a quick google search would tell you what it's all about...along with some critical thinking.

The OP's article even gives the many "reasons"...

with its own delivery and return capabilities built-in.

 

[SubmarinerSwamy]

What's the point?

A new Babel/Pharaoh's tower to mark the hubris of humanity. May it be ruined by the divine truths...

The point is money

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/04/12/spacex-starship-5-things-you-need-to-know.aspx

SpaceX Starship: 5 Things You Need to Know

Elon Musk is building a Starship.

He hasn't succeeded in getting it to orbit yet, though he's gone through several prototypes. But once he does get it built -- and working -- it will be the biggest rocketship the world has ever seen.

STARSHIP PROTOTYPE "SN1" AT SPACEX'S LAUNCH SITE IN TEXAS. IMAGE SOURCE: SPACEX.

Powered by six "Raptor" engines, and launched atop a "Super Heavy" booster sporting 37 more Raptors, Starship promises to be the most powerful rocket ever built -- about twice as powerful as the Saturn V rockets that originally took NASA to the moon. With 100 tons "plus" in potential payload, Starship should be more capable than NASA's latest flagship rocket, the Space Launch System, or SLS. Moreover, because both Starship and Super Heavy will be fully reusable (while SLS will not be), SpaceX's rocket should end up being far cheaper than SLS when its cost is spread over multiple launches.

Of course, all of the above is common knowledge by now. But thanks to a new document just published by SpaceX, the "Starship Users Guide," we now know a whole lot more about SpaceX's Starship than we used to. Here are five interesting facts you might not (yet) be aware of.

1. Caution: Wide load
Starship isn't just big. This spacecraft will be downright roomy.

According to SpaceX's Users Guide, "the standard Starship payload fairing is 9 m in outer diameter [and eight meters inner diameter] resulting in the largest usable payload volume of any current or in development launcher."

Because it's so wide, Starship can carry entire space systems into orbit, eliminating the need to take objects apart and send them up in pieces for reassembly in orbit. Starship's wide load permits it to carry:

• Intact "in-space demonstration spacecraft"
• "1-3x geosynchronous telecom satellite(s)" -- simultaneously!
• A "full constellation of [smaller] satellites on a single mission"
• And even "large observatories."

(And those are just the inanimate cargo options. Starship will also have a passenger variant for carrying humans to space.)

2. Max headroom
For extra-tall cargo, Starship will also offer the option of "an extended payload volume ... for payloads requiring up to 22 m of height," an option that should increase the spacecraft's versatility when tasked with carrying oddly shaped spacecraft, multiple large telecom satellites, or constellations of small satellites for simultaneous deployment in orbit.

3. Fragile: Handle with care
Rocket launchers need to exercise different levels of care when launching payloads of fuel, of delicate electronics, or even more delicate astronauts. Simply put, the more fragile the cargo, the lower the "G" force a rocket can accelerate at. To accommodate different payloads with differing requirements, SpaceX is designing Starship such that "both the Super Heavy and Starship engines can be throttled to help maintain launch vehicle and payload acceleration limits."

Once again, this function of the rocket's design expands the range of cargo SpaceX will be able to use Starship to carry.

4. No more dumped "fairings"
The expendable rockets that most space companies fly enclose their payloads within two fairing halves that split open to release a payload, then tumble down to burn up in Earth's atmosphere. SpaceX's own Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets use a similar design, although SpaceX has been working out a process for recovering its fairings by parachuting them back to Earth and capturing them in large nets.

Starship, however, will obviate this need by utilizing an openable-closable clamshell fairing door to protect its cargo. "To deploy the payload," explains the Users Guide, "the clamshell fairing door is opened, and the payload adapter and payload are tilted at an angle in preparation for separation. The payload is then separated using the mission-unique payload adapter." Then the fairing door closes again.

This ability to open and close the fairing door repeatedly, never jettisoning the fairing, will permit Starship to capture defunct satellites for repair or refueling in orbit, to relocate satellites to new orbits, or even bring them back to Earth -- opening entire new areas of business for SpaceX to exploit.

5. The price
There is, however, one thing that SpaceX very notably leaves out of its Starship Users Guide -- and this is arguably the most important point of all from the perspective of an investor: price.

SpaceX says not word one about how much it will cost for it to build or operate a Starship (or to build a Super Heavy, for that matter). It's similarly silent on the price it will charge customers for launch services utilizing the rocket. Until we know those two things, it's going to be very difficult to say what kinds of profit margins Starship might produce for SpaceX -- or how much leeway the company will have to lower its prices to keep competition at bay.

Until we know that, it's going to be hard to estimate how much of a competitive threat Starship poses to the established space launch businesses of companies such as America's United Launch Alliance or Europe's Arianespace.

That being said, given what we now do know about Starship from the company's Starship Users Guide, I think it's safe to say: If SpaceX prices this thing right, it's going to be a very hard company to compete with.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

2 standard 40 ft shipping containers and a 6 ft human for scale

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

SpaceX: Elon Musk explains why we’ll go to Mars from ocean spaceports

SpaceX is planning to put its Starship launch pads somewhere in the ocean, far away from city centers.

www.inverse.com

SPACEX: ELON MUSK EXPLAINS WHY WE’LL GO TO MARS FROM OCEAN SPACEPORTS

SpaceX's Starship rockets designed to send humans to Mars will take off from ocean-based spaceports, CEO Elon Musk stated Monday.

During a Twitter conversation about the future of space travel, the SpaceX CEO confirmed that the Starship vehicle and the Super Heavy booster used to lift it away from Earth will "will mostly launch from ocean spaceports long-term." Musk later clarified that "occasional flights from land are ok, but frequent (daily) flights probably need ~30km / 18 miles clear area for noise."

The comments illuminate SpaceX's thinking around the Starship, which is designed to transport up to 150 tons, or 100 people, into space at a time. The reusable ship measures some 400 feet when paired with its booster. It is expected to take on missions currently completed by the existing Falcon 9 satellite launches, and to enable more ambitious missions, like crewed trips to the Moon and Mars. Its use of liquid oxygen and methane fuel means a crew could feasibly visit Mars, harvest resources from the planet to refuel, and either return home or perhaps venture even further.

Musk explains why SpaceX will use an ocean-based spaceport for launches. The firm's CEO has previously suggested that one Starship can complete 1,000 launches per year – a huge number considering the company has completed only 100 missions over its 14 years of flights. The majority of SpaceX's flights — 57 of them — have taken off from the land-based Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Starship's increased flight frequency could require a greater distance from land.

Perhaps the biggest benefit for an ocean-based seaport would be frequent Earth-to-Earth flights. Musk claimed in June that SpaceX would start test flights within two to three years. The ships could also transport 1,000 people at a time across Earth, jetting from London to Hong Kong in just 34 minutes.

SpaceX's concept art of an ocean-based spaceport.SpaceX
Musk has floated the idea of ocean-based spaceports before. In November 2019, he claimed they would be located 20 miles offshore. In June 2020, he shared a job listing for an offshore operations engineer in Brownsville, Texas, where SpaceX is developing Starship.

Musk made his most recent comments in response to the news Monday that Russia plans to restore its floating Sea Launch cosmodrome. The project was started in 1995, and supported launches until 2014. Russian deputy prime minister Yuri Borisov placed the cost of restoration at some 35 billion rubles (around $470 million).

The platform supported 36 Pacific Ocean launches with the Zenit rocket. This rocket, designed by engineers in the Soviet Union, took its debut flight in 1985. The ship's RD-171 engine produced 1.6 million pounds of thrust at sea level. SpaceNews reported ahead of the rocket's final mission in 2015 that it used the most powerful operational liquid-fueled rocket engine.

The most powerful rocket currently in operation today is SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, with liftoff thrust over five million pounds. The Starship's booster is designed to improve on that even further, offering 16 million pounds of thrust.