SpaceX held a presentation on the Starship rocket at the Starbase launch and development site in Texas on Friday, February 11 at 3:00 AM CET.
Production and reusability
During the presentation Elon Musk stated that the Super Heavy booster will take six minutes to return to the launch site and 30 minutes to refuel which allows Super Heavy to be ready for a new launch in just one hour.
Starship, on the other hand, must make at least one orbit (most likely two or three) before re-entering the atmosphere. Considering that each orbit lasts approximately 90 minutes, Starship could be reused between 6 and 8 hours after launch.
Musk also stated that by the end of 2022, SpaceX teams aim to produce one booster and one ship per month.
New rocket details
The Starship system figures have not changed much in recent years but the maximum capacity of 150 t has been confirmed (it all depends on the destination orbit).
For Super Heavy the main change was the height, in fact the booster is no longer 70m but 69m, this is due to the elimination by the team of an extra section.
Raptor 2
The engines are perhaps the most important part of the whole rocket. The key to quick reuse is to have a very reliable but also efficient engine. Precisely for this reason the Raptor engines are constantly updated.
Although the first version of Raptor is fitted in the prototypes up to now (including Booster 4 and Ship 20), the Raptor V2 will be fitted in future vehicles.
Comparing the two versions we can see how the Raptor V2 engine has a cleaner design than the V1.
During the presentation, the main problems of this release were also communicated that the teams still have to solve. The biggest is the melting in the combustion chamber (which has the goal of running at 330 bar), just the increase in pressure also increases the temperature inside the chamber, the increase is so significant that Elon Musk said "That thing really wants to melt."
Other internal engine modifications include simplification or elimination of unnecessary components and improvement of the hydraulic system. Some parts, such as the combustion chamber and electronics, have been completely redesigned, while other critical components, such as the inductors of the turbopumps, have been made more "robust".
SpaceX has also converted flanges (a method of connecting pipes that allows for easier maintenance) into welds.
SpaceX has however increased the production rate of the Raptor 2 engines and, from next month, will be able to make one engine per day while the production cost of the Raptor V2 is about half that of the previous version.
Orbital and non-orbital flights
Starship will carry out its first orbital flights this year, while the first in-orbit refueling tests will take place at the end of 2023 (to then last 2 years).
Another use of Starship will be to transport cargo from one place on Earth to another. This method could reduce costs and delivery times.
The launch and capture tower
One of the most important and critical parts of the system is the "stage 0" ie the ground infrastructure.
The design and construction of this innovative and unique land system took 13 months. In fact this system is not only capable of supporting the complete Starship rocket, but it is precisely the system that stacks the two stages of the rocket. This is thanks to the creation of chopsticks.
Starship in Florida
SpaceX recently began building a new launch tower at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, this location allows for greater launch flexibility. In any case, SpaceX will continue to test new variants of Starship at Starbase so as not to damage any launch complex in use by other rockets used to launch satellites or humans, such as Falcon 9, in the event of a malfunction.