STARSHIP MISSION CONSTRUCTION KIT

SpaceX is building Starship specifically to reach Mars, but it could transform space travel as the first mass-produced spacecraft

Over the last 18 years, SpaceX has cut the cost of space access dramatically, forcing competitors to reluctantly follow its lead, but it is with the new Starship and Super Heavy that SpaceX could revolutionise space travel.

Elon Musk’s overarching goal with SpaceX is to establish a self-sustaining city on Mars and make life multi-planetary. The biggest obstacle to this is space transport; the Falcon 9 was designed from a clean sheet to prove the technology and build SpaceX as a business that could reach for Mars. SpaceX focused on fast, simplified manufacturing and operations to bring costs down, but probably its biggest innovation so far was realising reusability could be achieved with conventional two-stage rockets.

As the design has evolved, Falcon 9 has become more capable, but a bigger vehicle was always going to be required to reach the Red Planet. After running through a number of concepts and names – Falcon XX, Mars Colonial Transporter, Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), Interplanetary Transport System – that vehicle has become the Starship reusable spacecraft and Super Heavy reusable first stage.

Space enthusiasts have been following the slow build-up at Boca Chica, but Starship flights have broken out into the broader world, capturing attention in a way reminiscent of the early Space Race. While not as spectacular as the launches themselves, SpaceX’s next great innovation shows in the rate new test vehicles arrive, with Starships SN1 to SN9 tested over roughly 12 months.