At full power, all engines combined produce 74,400 kN (16,700,000 lb f) of thrust. The outermost ring of 20 engines are of the "Raptor Boost" configuration, which lack gimbal actuators to save weight and cost. It contains 33 Raptor engines arranged in concentric rings. The first-stage booster, named Super Heavy, is 71 m (233 ft) tall and 9 m (30 ft) wide. SpaceX has stated that Starship, in its "baseline reuseable design", will have a payload capacity of 100–150 t (220,000–331,000 lb) to low earth orbit and 27 t (60,000 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit. Domes inside the spacecraft separate the methane and oxygen tanks. These cylinders have a diameter of 9 m (30 ft), a height of 2 m (7 ft), a thickness of 4 mm (0.16 in) and a mass of 1,600 kg (4,000 lb) each. The bodies of both rocket stages are made from stainless steel and are manufactured by stacking and welding stainless steel cylinders. The rocket has been designed with the goal of being fully reusable to reduce launch costs it consists of the Super Heavy first-stage booster and the Starship spacecraft which are powered by Raptor and Raptor Vacuum engines. When stacked and fully fueled, Starship has a mass of approximately 5,000 t (11,000,000 lb), a diameter of 9 m (30 ft) and a height of 121 m (397 ft). The upper stage was lost nearly eight minutes after launch prior to reaching orbit. The second flight test of the vehicle took place on 18 November 2023, achieving stage separation with the Super Heavy booster exploding roughly 30 seconds later following multiple engine failures during its boostback burn. The first flight test of the full Starship system took place on 20 April 2023, lifting-off with three engines out and ending four minutes after launch due to a loss of control, resulting in the destruction of the launch vehicle. Development follows an iterative and incremental approach involving test flights of prototype vehicles which are often destructive. SpaceX has stated that a long-term goal for the Starship system is to achieve frequent space launches at low cost. The Starship spacecraft is designed to be protected during atmospheric reentry by its thermal protection system, and it is able to land using its engines, following a 'belly flop' maneuver, where the spacecraft turns from a horizontal to a vertical orientation. The booster is designed to use its engines to slow itself down, before being caught by a pair of mechanical arms attached to the launch tower. Both stages are constructed primarily of stainless steel, instead of the carbon composite used in a series of prior designs. Both stages are powered by Raptor engines, which burn liquid methane and liquid oxygen. Starship consists of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft. A planned lunar lander variant of Starship was contracted by NASA to land astronauts on the Moon as part of the Artemis program for at least two Artemis lunar landings, starting with Artemis 3 in 2026. SpaceX plans to use Starship vehicles as tankers, refueling other Starships to allow missions to geosynchronous orbit, the Moon, and Mars. The vehicle is fundamental to SpaceX's ambition of colonizing Mars. The Starship launch vehicle is designed to supplant SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, expand SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation, and launch crews to both low Earth orbit and Mars. Starship is intended to be fully reusable, allowing both stages to be recovered after a mission and to be rapidly reused. It is the largest and most powerful rocket ever flown. Starship is an American two-stage super heavy lift launch vehicle under development by aerospace company SpaceX.
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