A reusable launch vehicle has parts that can be recovered and reflown, while carrying payloads from the surface to outer space . Rocket stages are the most common launch vehicle parts aimed for reuse. Smaller parts such as rocket engines and boosters can also be reused, though reusable spacecraft may be launched on top of an expendable launch vehicle. Reusable launch vehicles do not need to make these parts for each launch, therefore reducing its launch cost significantly. However, these benefits are diminished by the cost of recovery and refurbishment.
162-456: Starship is a two-stage fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by American aerospace company SpaceX . On April 20, 2023, with the first Integrated Flight Test , Starship became the most massive, most powerful, and tallest vehicle ever to fly. SpaceX has developed Starship with the intention of lowering launch costs using economies of scale , aiming to achieve this by reusing both rocket stages by "catching" them with
324-424: A Raptor vacuum engine underwent its first full duration firing at McGregor, Texas . Starship SN8 was the first full-sized upper-stage prototype, though it lacked a heat shield. It underwent four preliminary static fire tests between October and November 2020. On 9 December 2020, SN8 flew, slowly turning off its three engines one by one, and reached an altitude of 12.5 km (7.8 mi). After SN8 dove back to
486-545: A carbon fiber structure, a mass in excess of 10,000 t (22,000,000 lb) when fully fueled, a payload of 300 t (660,000 lb) to low Earth orbit while being fully reusable. By 2017, the concept was again re-dubbed the BFR . In December 2018, the structural material was changed from carbon composites to stainless steel, marking the transition from early design concepts of the Starship. Musk cited numerous reasons for
648-493: A floating platform , it will be transported by a barge to a port and then transported by road. The recovered Starship will either be positioned on the launch mount for another launch or refurbished at a SpaceX facility . In November 2005, before SpaceX had launched its first rocket the Falcon 1 , CEO Elon Musk first mentioned a high-capacity rocket concept able to launch 100 t (220,000 lb) to low Earth orbit , dubbed
810-503: A common bulkhead, similar to the ones used on the S-II and S-IVB stages on the Saturn V rocket After Starship's second flight test , the common dome's design was changed to a more elliptical dome, which has changed the propellant capacity of both tanks by an unknown, but likely negligible, amount. Both tanks are heavily reinforced, with roughly 74 stringers attached to the interior walls of
972-401: A dry mass of about 303,000 pounds (137,000 kilograms); when fully fueled at launch, it had a total mass of 4,881,000 pounds (2,214,000 kilograms). The S-IC was powered by five Rocketdyne F-1 engines arrayed in a quincunx . The center engine was held in a fixed position, while the four outer engines could be hydraulically turned with gimbals to steer the rocket. In flight, the center engine
1134-532: A flight test program with experimental vehicles . These subsequently led to the development of the Falcon 9 reusable rocket launcher. Saturn V The Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon . The rocket was human-rated , had three stages , and was powered by liquid fuel . Flown from 1967 to 1973, it
1296-518: A fully reusable successor to the Saturn V rocket, having the capacity of transporting up to 450–910 t (990,000–2,000,000 lb) to orbit. See also Sea Dragon , and Douglas SASSTO . The BAC Mustard was studied starting in 1964. It would have comprised three identical spaceplanes strapped together and arranged in two stages. During ascent the two outer spaceplanes, which formed the first stage, would detach and glide back individually to earth. It
1458-446: A height of 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in), a thickness of 4 mm (0.16 in) and a mass of 1,600 kg (3,500 lb) each. Domes inside the spacecraft separate the methane and oxygen tanks. 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 . Super Heavy
1620-402: A launch pad for orbital Starship flights. The first flight-capable prototype, SN5 , was cylindrical as it had no flaps or nose cone: just one Raptor engine, fuel tanks, and a mass simulator . On 5 August 2020, SN5 performed a 150 m (500 ft) high flight and successfully landed on a nearby pad. On 3 September 2020, the similar-looking Starship SN6 repeated the hop; later that month,
1782-410: A low Earth orbit (LEO) payload capacity originally estimated at 261,000 pounds (118,000 kg), but was designed to send at least 90,000 pounds (41,000 kg) to the Moon. Later upgrades increased that capacity; on the final three Apollo lunar missions, it sent up to 95,901 lb (43,500 kg) to the Moon. At a height of 363 feet (111 m), the Saturn V stood 58 feet (18 m) taller than
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#17327944990431944-462: A lunar orbit rendezvous provided the simplest landing on the Moon with the most cost–efficient launch vehicle, and the best chance to accomplish the lunar landing within the decade. Other NASA officials became convinced, and LOR was then officially selected as the mission configuration for the Apollo program and announced by NASA administrator James E. Webb on November 7, 1962. Arthur Rudolph became
2106-459: A nitrogen purge while on the launch pad. The aft bay has eighteen vents visible on the outside of the booster, which are believed to be connected to the outer 20 engines, while the center engines vent directly below the launch pad. The Raptor engine uses a full-flow staged combustion cycle, which has both oxygen and methane-rich turbopumps. Before 2014, only two full-flow staged-combustion rocket engine designs had advanced enough to undergo testing:
2268-655: A number "in the high teens". These launches will reportedly have to be in "rapid succession" in order to manage schedule constraints and cryogenic fuel boil-off. When fully fueled, Starship HLS is designed to land 100 t (220,000 lb) of payload on the Moon. Raptor is a family of rocket engines developed by SpaceX for use in Starship and Super Heavy vehicles. It burns liquid oxygen and methane in an efficient and complex full-flow staged combustion power cycle. The Raptor engine uses methane as fuel rather than kerosene because methane gives higher performance and prevents
2430-755: A part of its launch system. More contemporarily the Falcon 9 launch system has carried reusable vehicles such as the Dragon 2 and X-37 , transporting two reusable vehicles at the same time. Contemporary reusable orbital vehicles include the X-37, the Dream Chaser , the Dragon 2, the Indian RLV-TD and the upcoming European Space Rider (successor to the IXV ). As with launch vehicles, all pure spacecraft during
2592-564: A payload to GTO of 21 t (46,000 lb). The first tests started with the construction of the first prototype in 2018, Starhopper , which performed several static fires and two successful low-altitude flights in 2019. SpaceX began constructing the first full-size Starship MK1 and Mk2 upper-stage prototypes before 2019, at the SpaceX facilities in Boca Chica , Texas , and Cocoa, Florida , respectively. Neither prototype flew: Mk1
2754-451: A pressure pipe and caused minor damage to the launchpad. By the end of November, Ship 24 had performed 2 static test fires, while Booster 7 had performed 6 static test fires and finally on 9 February 2023, a static fire with 31 engines at 50% throttle. In January 2023, the whole Starship stack underwent a full wet dress rehearsal . After a launch attempt aborted on 17 April 2023, Booster 7 and Ship 24 lifted off on 20 April at 13:33 UTC in
2916-513: A proposed replacement for the first stage was the AJ-260x . This solid rocket motor would have simplified the design by removing the five-engine configuration and, in turn, reduced launch costs. The S-II was built by North American Aviation at Seal Beach, California . Using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, it had five Rocketdyne J-2 engines in a similar arrangement to the S-IC, and also used
3078-426: A rocket varies with air density and the square of relative velocity . Although velocity continues to increase, air density decreases so quickly with altitude that dynamic pressure falls below max q. The propellant in just the S-IC made up about three-quarters of Saturn V's entire launch mass, and it was consumed at 13,000 kilograms per second (1,700,000 lb/min). Newton's second law of motion states that force
3240-422: A rocket which is planned to be reusable. As of October 2024 , Starship is the only launch vehicle intended to be fully reusable that has been fully built and tested. The most recent test flight was on October 13, 2024, in which the vehicle completed a suborbital launch and landed both stages for the second time. The Super Heavy booster was caught successfully by the "chopstick system" on Orbital Pad A for
3402-587: A second time for translunar injection (TLI). The Saturn V's instrument unit was built by IBM and was placed on top of the rocket's third stage. It was constructed at the Space Systems Center in Huntsville, Alabama . This computer controlled the operations of the rocket from just before liftoff until the S-IVB was discarded. It included guidance and telemetry systems for the rocket. By measuring
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#17327944990433564-507: A second. Once the rocket had lifted off, it could not safely settle back down onto the pad if the engines failed. The astronauts considered this one of the tensest moments in riding the Saturn V, for if the rocket did fail to lift off after release they had a low chance of survival given the large amounts of propellant. To improve safety, the Saturn Emergency Detection System (EDS) inhibited engine shutdown for
3726-562: A single rocket launching two spacecraft: a mother ship , and a smaller, two-man landing module which would rendezvous back with the main spacecraft in lunar orbit. The lander would be discarded and the mother ship would return home. At first, NASA dismissed LOR as a riskier option, as a space rendezvous had yet to be performed in Earth orbit, much less in lunar orbit. Several NASA officials, including Langley Research Center engineer John Houbolt and NASA Administrator George Low , argued that
3888-420: A thinner forward flap design, which are positioned more leeward, a 25% increase in propellant capacity, integrated vented interstage, two "raceways", and an increase in thrust. The vehicle will be a total of 3.1 m (10 ft) taller than the previous Block 1 vehicle, and is planned to have a payload capacity of at least 100 tons to orbit when reused. Additionally, Block 2 vehicles will use Raptor 3 , removing
4050-454: A time with a delay to reduce peak acceleration further. After S-IC separation, the S-II second stage burned for 6 minutes and propelled the craft to 109 miles (175 km) and 15,647 mph (25,181 km/h), close to orbital velocity . For the first two uncrewed launches, eight solid-fuel ullage motors ignited for four seconds to accelerate the S-II stage, followed by the ignition of
4212-427: A total of just 20 minutes. Although Apollo 6 experienced three engine failures, and Apollo 13 experienced one engine shutdown, the onboard computers were able to compensate by burning the remaining engines longer to achieve parking orbit. In the event of an abort requiring the destruction of the rocket, the range safety officer would remotely shut down the engines and after several seconds send another command for
4374-551: A viewing gallery". Starship's life support system is expected to recycle resources such as air and water from waste. Starship will be able to be refueled by docking with separately launched Starship propellant tanker spacecraft in orbit. Doing so increases the spacecraft's mass capacity and allows it to reach higher-energy targets, such as geosynchronous orbit , the Moon, and Mars. A Starship propellant depot could cache methane and oxygen on-orbit and be used by Starship to replenish its fuel tanks. Starship Human Landing System (HLS)
4536-464: Is 71 m (233 ft) tall, 9 m (30 ft) wide, and is composed of four general sections: the engines, the oxygen tank, the fuel tank, and the interstage. Elon Musk stated in 2021 that the final design will have a dry mass between 160 t (350,000 lb) and 200 t (440,000 lb), with the tanks weighing 80 t (180,000 lb) and the interstage 20 t (44,000 lb). The propellant tanks on Super Heavy are separated by
4698-494: Is a crewed lunar lander variant of the Starship vehicle that would be modified for landing, operation, and takeoff from the lunar surface. It features landing legs, a body-mounted solar array , a set of thrusters mounted mid-body to assist with final landing and takeoff, two airlocks , and an elevator to lower crew and cargo onto the lunar surface. Varying estimates have been given about the number of tanker launches required to fully fuel HLS, ranging from between "four and eight" to
4860-423: Is an in-air-capture tow back system, advocated by a company called EMBENTION with its FALCon project. Vehicles that land horizontally on a runway require wings and undercarriage. These typically consume about 9-12% of the landing vehicle mass, which either reduces the payload or increases the size of the vehicle. Concepts such as lifting bodies offer some reduction in wing mass, as does the delta wing shape of
5022-484: Is assumed that the bulk density of the first stage (without propellant) is less than the bulk density of air. Upon returning from flight, such a first stage remains floating in the air (without touching the surface of the Earth). This will ensure that the first stage is retained for reuse. Increasing the size of the first stage increases aerodynamic losses. This results in a slight decrease in payload. This reduction in payload
SpaceX Starship - Misplaced Pages Continue
5184-607: Is compensated for by the reuse of the first stage. Reusable stages weigh more than equivalent expendable stages . This is unavoidable due to the supplementary systems, landing gear and/or surplus propellant needed to land a stage. The actual mass penalty depends on the vehicle and the return mode chosen. After the launcher lands, it may need to be refurbished to prepare it for its next flight. This process may be lengthy and expensive. The launcher may not be able to be recertified as human-rated after refurbishment, although SpaceX has flown reused Falcon 9 boosters for human missions. There
5346-460: Is designed to protect the vehicle during atmospheric entry and to be used multiple times with minimal maintenance between flights. The silica -based tiles are attached to Starship with pins and have small gaps in between to allow for heat expansion . After IFT-4, SpaceX added a secondary ablative layer under the primary heat shield. The total mass of the heat shield and ablative layer is 10.5 t (23,000 lb). For satellite launch , Starship
5508-404: Is equal to mass multiplied by acceleration, or equivalently that acceleration is equal to force divided by mass, so as the mass decreased (and the force increased somewhat), acceleration rose. Including gravity, launch acceleration was only 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 g , i.e., the astronauts felt 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 g while the rocket accelerated vertically at 1 ⁄ 4 g . As
5670-430: Is eventually a limit on how many times a launcher can be refurbished before it has to be retired, but how often a launcher can be reused differs significantly between the various launch system designs. With the development of rocket propulsion in the first half of the twentieth century, space travel became a technical possibility. Early ideas of a single-stage reusable spaceplane proved unrealistic and although even
5832-626: Is intended to perform a wide range of space missions. For missions to further destinations, such as geosynchronous orbit , the Moon , and Mars , Starship will rely on orbital refueling ; a ship-to-ship propellant transfer demonstration is expected to occur in 2025. SpaceX also plans other versions of the Starship spacecraft, such as: cargo (deploying SpaceX's second-generation Starlink satellite constellation), and human spaceflight (the Human Landing System variant will land astronauts on
5994-404: Is mostly aluminum, copper, and steel; oxidizer-side turbopumps and manifolds subject to corrosive oxygen-rich flames are made of an Inconel -like SX500 superalloy . Some components are 3D printed . A Raptor 2 engine produces 2.3 MN (520,000 lbf) at a specific impulse of 327 seconds (3.21 km/s) at sea level and 350 seconds (3.4 km/s) in a vacuum. Raptor vacuum , used on
6156-407: Is part of the aft dome. A large steel structure is mounted at the bottom of the dome, reinforcing the thrust puck enough to enable its support of the inner thirteen engines, while also providing pathways for methane and oxygen to flow into the engines. Large slosh baffles were added in this region as well, beginning on Booster 10. A header tank is used to supply liquid oxygen during the landing burn for
6318-412: Is planned to have a large cargo door that opens to release payloads, similar to NASA 's Space Shuttle , and close upon reentry instead of a jettisonable nosecone fairing . Instead of a cleanroom , payloads are integrated directly into Starship's payload bay, which requires purging the payload bay with temperature-controlled ISO class 8 clean air. To deploy Starlink satellites , the cargo door
6480-537: Is powered by 33 Raptor engines, which are housed within a dedicated shielding compartment. This compartment is not present before engine installation, thus, boosters are roughly three meters shorter before engine installation. The outer 20 engines, arranged in a single ring, are in a fixed position. In order to save weight, these engines are started using ground support equipment on the launch mount and cannot be reignited for subsequent burns. The inner thirteen engines are attached to an adapter, which rests directly against
6642-604: Is the largest of any active or planned launch vehicle; its internal volume of 1,000 m (35,000 cu ft) is slightly larger than the International Space Station's pressurized volume. SpaceX will also provide a 22 m (72 ft) tall payload bay configuration for even larger payloads. Starship has a total propellant capacity of 1,200 t (2,600,000 lb) across its main tanks and header tanks. The header tanks are better insulated due to their position and are reserved for use to flip and land
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6804-835: Is thought of as the first stage of the launch vehicle. An example of this configuration is the Orbital Sciences Pegasus . For suborbital flight the SpaceShipTwo uses for liftoff a carrier plane, its mothership the Scaled Composites White Knight Two . Rocket Lab is working on Neutron , and the European Space Agency is working on Themis . Both vehicles are planned to recover the first stage. So far, most launch systems achieve orbital insertion with at least partially expended multistaged rockets , particularly with
6966-533: Is to be caught by arms after performing most of the typical steps of a retrograde landing. Blue Origin 's New Shepard suborbital rocket also lands vertically back at the launch site. Retrograde landing typically requires about 10% of the total first stage propellant, reducing the payload that can be carried due to the rocket equation . There is also the concept of a launch vehicle with an inflatable, reusable first stage. The shape of this structure will be supported by excess internal pressure (using light gases). It
7128-437: Is to be replaced with a slot and dispenser rack, whose mechanism has been compared to a Pez candy dispenser. Crewed Starship vehicles would replace the cargo bay with a pressurized crew section and have a life-support system . For long-duration missions, such as crewed flights to Mars , SpaceX describes the interior as potentially including "private cabins, large communal areas, centralized storage, solar storm shelters, and
7290-455: Is working on a two-stage-to-orbit system. SpaceX is testing Starship , which has been in development since 2016 and has made an initial test flight in April 2023 and 5 more flights as of November 2024. Blue Origin , with Project Jarvis , began development work by early 2021, but has announced no date for testing and have not discussed the project publicly. Stoke Space is also developing
7452-547: The BFR . Later in 2012, Elon Musk first publicly announced plans to develop a rocket surpassing the capabilities of Space X's existing Falcon 9 . SpaceX called it the Mars Colonial Transporter , as the rocket was to transport humans to Mars and back. In 2016, the descriptor was changed to Interplanetary Transport System , as the rocket was planned to travel beyond Mars as well. The conceptual design called for
7614-550: The Falcon 9 and the New Shepard employ retrograde burns for re-entry, and landing. Reusable systems can come in single or multiple ( two or three ) stages to orbit configurations. For some or all stages the following landing system types can be employed. These are landing systems that employ parachutes and bolstered hard landings, like in a splashdown at sea or a touchdown at land. The latter may require an engine burn just before landing as parachutes alone cannot slow
7776-412: The Falcon 9 booster, which has titanium grid fins mounted 90 degrees from each other. This is done to improve control in the pitch axis. Additionally, these fins remain extended during ascent in order to save weight. The interstage also has protruding hardpoints , located between grid fins, allowing the booster to be lifted or caught by the launch tower. The ability to lift a booster from these hardpoints
7938-670: The Launch Escape System rocket (150,000 pounds-force (667 kN) sea level thrust) mounted atop the Apollo command module. The Apollo LES fired for a much shorter time than the Mercury-Redstone (3.2 seconds vs. 143.5 seconds). The Saturn V was principally designed by the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama , although numerous major systems, including propulsion systems, were designed by subcontractors. The rocket used
8100-918: The Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico . After rounding Florida , the stages were transported up the Intra-Coastal Waterway to the Vehicle Assembly Building (originally called the Vertical Assembly Building). This was essentially the same route which would be used later to ship Space Shuttle external tanks . The S-II was constructed in California and traveled to Florida via the Panama Canal . The third stage and Instrument Unit
8262-537: The RS-25 's 12.5° and the Merlin's 5°. SpaceX has stated they aim to achieve a per unit production cost of US$ 250,000 upon starting mass-production. On April 4, 2024, Elon Musk provided an update on Starship at Starbase , where two new versions of Starship were announced, Block 2 and Block 3. As of November 19, 2024, Block 1 has been retired but was used for the first 6 Flight Tests . Block 2 vehicles feature
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#17327944990438424-644: The Space Launch System are considered to be retrofitted with such heat shields to salvage the expensive engines, possibly reducing the costs of launches significantly. Heat shields allow an orbiting spacecraft to land safely without expending very much fuel. They need not take the form of inflatable heat shields, they may simply take the form of heat-resistant tiles that prevent heat conduction . Heat shields are also proposed for use in combination with retrograde thrust to allow for full reusability as seen in Starship . Reusable launch system stages such as
8586-537: The Space Shuttle . Systems like the McDonnell Douglas DC-X (Delta Clipper) and those by SpaceX are examples of a retrograde system. The boosters of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy land using one of their nine engines. The Falcon 9 rocket is the first orbital rocket to vertically land its first stage on the ground. The first stage of Starship is planned to land vertically, while the second
8748-561: The Space Shuttle orbiter that acted as an orbital insertion stage, but it did not reuse the External Tank that fed the RS-25 engines. This is an example of a reusable launch system which reuses specific components of rockets. ULA’s Vulcan Centaur was originally designed to reuse the first stage engines, while the tank is expended. The engines would splashdown on an inflatable aeroshell , then be recovered. On 23 February 2024, one of
8910-732: The Statue of Liberty from the ground to the torch, and 48 feet (15 m) taller than the Elizabeth Tower , which houses Big Ben at the Palace of Westminster . In contrast, the Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle used on Freedom 7 , the first crewed American spaceflight, was approximately 11 feet (3.4 m) longer than the S-IVB stage and delivered less sea level thrust (78,000 pounds-force (350 kN)) than
9072-557: The instrument unit . All three stages used liquid oxygen (LOX) as the oxidizer . The first stage used RP-1 for fuel, while the second and third stages used liquid hydrogen (LH2). LH2 has a higher specific energy (energy per unit mass) than RP-1, which makes it more suitable for higher-energy orbits, such as the trans-lunar injection required for Apollo missions. Conversely, RP-1 offers higher energy density (energy per unit volume) and higher thrust than LH2, which makes it more suitable for reducing aerodynamic drag and gravity losses in
9234-550: The 2000s and 2010s lead to a resurgence of their development, such as in SpaceShipOne , New Shepard , Electron , Falcon 9 , and Falcon Heavy . Many launch vehicles are now expected to debut with reusability in the 2020s, such as Starship , New Glenn , Neutron , Soyuz-7 , Ariane Next , Long March , Terran R , and the Dawn Mk-II Aurora. The impact of reusability in launch vehicles has been foundational in
9396-613: The Army's rocket design division. Between 1945 and 1958, his work was restricted to conveying the ideas and methods behind the V-2 to American engineers, though he wrote books and articles in popular magazines. This approach changed in 1957, when the Soviets launched Sputnik 1 atop an R-7 ICBM, which could carry a thermonuclear warhead to the U.S. The Army and government began putting more effort towards sending Americans into space before
9558-457: The Block 3 vehicle. These later versions may have up to 35 engines. The combined plume of the engines produces large shock diamonds in the exhaust during the ascent burn. During unpowered flight in the upper atmosphere, control authority is provided by cold gas thrusters fed with residual ullage gas . Four perpendicular vents are located within the interstage, placed at a 45 degree angle from
9720-497: The C-4, which would use four F-1 engines in its first stage, an enlarged C-3 second stage, and the S-IVB , a stage with a single J-2 engine, as its third stage. The C-4 would only need to carry out two launches to carry out an EOR lunar mission. On January 10, 1962, NASA announced plans to build the C-5. The three-stage rocket would consist of the S-IC first stage, with five F-1 engines;
9882-408: The C-5. Rather than undergoing testing for each major component, the C-5 would be tested in an "all-up" fashion, meaning that the first test flight of the rocket would include complete versions of all three stages. By testing all components at once, far fewer test flights would be required before a crewed launch. The C-5 was confirmed as NASA's choice for the Apollo program in early 1962, and was named
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#173279449904310044-570: The FAA, has a height of 150 m (490 ft). The Starship second stage will feature 9 Raptor engines, while the Super Heavy booster will have up to 35. It is planned to have a payload capacity of at least 200 tons to orbit when reused. Payloads are planned to be integrated into Starship at a separate facility and then rolled out to the launch site . Super Heavy and Starship are then to be stacked onto their launch mount and loaded with fuel via
10206-640: The Jupiter vehicles. Between 1960 and 1962, the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) designed a series of Saturn rockets that could be deployed for Earth orbit and lunar missions. NASA planned to use the Saturn C-3 as part of the Earth orbit rendezvous (EOR) method for a lunar mission, with at least two or three launches needed for a single landing on the Moon. However, the MSFC planned an even bigger rocket,
10368-741: The Moon as part of the Artemis program , starting in 2026). 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 121.3 m (398 ft). The rocket has been designed with the goal of being fully reusable to reduce launch costs; it consists of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage which are powered by Raptor and Raptor Vacuum engines . The bodies of both rocket stages are made from stainless steel and are manufactured by stacking and welding stainless steel cylinders. These cylinders have
10530-643: The Moon from Apollo 8 (December 1968) to Apollo 17 (December 1972). In September 1945, the U.S. government brought the German rocket technologist Wernher von Braun and over 1,500 German rocket engineers and technicians to the United States in Operation Paperclip , a program authorized by President Truman . Von Braun, who had helped create the German V-2 rocket, was assigned to
10692-414: The Moon, Starship will fire its engines to slow down. To land on bodies with an atmosphere, such as the Earth and Mars, Starship first slows by entering the atmosphere using a heat shield . The spacecraft would then perform a "belly-flop" maneuver by diving through the atmosphere at a 60° angle to the ground, controlling its fall using four flaps at the front and aft of the spacecraft. Shortly before landing,
10854-542: The Moon. The largest production model of the Saturn family of rockets , the Saturn V was designed under the direction of Wernher von Braun at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama ; the lead contractors for construction of the rocket were Boeing , North American Aviation , Douglas Aircraft Company , and IBM . Fifteen flight-capable vehicles were built, not counting three used for ground testing. A total of thirteen missions were launched from Kennedy Space Center , nine of which carried 24 astronauts to
11016-467: The Raptor engines fire, using fuel from the header tanks, to perform a "landing flip" maneuver to return to a vertical orientation, with the Raptor engines' gimbaling helping to maneuver the craft. The HLS and depot cannot reenter the atmosphere, as they lack a thermal protection system . If Starship's second stage lands on a pad, a mobile hydraulic lift will move it to a transporter vehicle. If it lands on
11178-606: The S-IC from the rest of the vehicle at an altitude of about 42 miles (67 km). The first stage continued on a ballistic trajectory to an altitude of about 68 miles (109 km) and then fell in the Atlantic Ocean about 350 miles (560 km) downrange. The engine shutdown procedure was changed for the launch of Skylab to avoid damage to the Apollo Telescope Mount . Rather than shutting down all four outboard engines at once, they were shut down two at
11340-481: The S-IC, the S-II was transported from its manufacturing plant to Cape Kennedy by sea. The S-IVB stage was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company at Huntington Beach, California . It had one Rocketdyne J-2 engine and used the same fuel as the S-II. The S-IVB used a common bulkhead to separate the two tanks. It was 58.6 feet (17.86 m) tall with a diameter of 21.7 feet (6.604 m) and
11502-457: The S-II second stage, with five J-2 engines; and the S-IVB third stage, with a single J-2 engine. The C-5 would undergo component testing even before the first model was constructed. The S-IVB third stage would be used as the second stage for the C-1B, which would serve both to demonstrate proof of concept and feasibility for the C-5, but would also provide flight data critical to the development of
11664-416: The Saturn V launched Apollo 11 , putting the first men on the Moon. The size and payload capacity of the Saturn V dwarfed those of all other previous rockets successfully flown at that time. With the Apollo spacecraft on top, it stood 363 feet (111 m) tall, and, ignoring the fins, was 33 feet (10 m) in diameter. Fully fueled, the Saturn V weighed 6.5 million pounds (2,900,000 kg) and had
11826-615: The Saturn V shared characteristics with the one carried by the Saturn IB. The Saturn V was primarily constructed of aluminum . It was also made of titanium , polyurethane , cork and asbestos . Blueprints and other plans of the rocket are available on microfilm at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The Saturn V consisted of three stages—the S-IC first stage, S-II second stage, and S-IVB third stage—and
11988-527: The Saturn ;V. The C-1 became the Saturn I and C-1B became Saturn IB. Von Braun headed a team at the MSFC to build a vehicle capable of launching a crewed spacecraft to the Moon. During these revisions, the team rejected the single engine of the V-2's design and moved to a multiple-engine design. The Saturn V's final design had several key features. F-1 engines were chosen for the first stage, while new liquid hydrogen propulsion system called J-2 for
12150-611: The Shuttle technology, to be demonstrated under the X-33 and X-34 programs, which were both cancelled in the early 2000s due to rising costs and technical issues. The Ansari X Prize contest was intended to develop private suborbital reusable vehicles. Many private companies competed, with the winner, Scaled Composites , reaching the Kármán line twice in a two-week period with their reusable SpaceShipOne . In 2012, SpaceX started
12312-679: The Soviet RD-270 project in the 1960s and the Aerojet Rocketdyne Integrated Powerhead Demonstrator in the mid-2000s. To improve performance, the engines burn super cooled propellant. The current version of the booster produces a total of 69.9 MN (15,700,000 lb f ) just over twice that of the Saturn V first stage , with this total being expected to increase to 80.8 MN (18,200,000 lb f ) for Block 2 boosters and later up to 98.1 MN (22,100,000 lb f ) with
12474-588: The Soviets. They turned to von Braun's team, who had created the Jupiter series of rockets . The Juno I rocket launched the first American satellite in January 1958. Von Braun considered the Jupiter series of rockets to be a prototype of the upcoming Saturn series of rockets , and referred to it as "an infant Saturn". Named after the sixth planet from the Sun , the design of the various Saturn rockets evolved from
12636-525: The Space Shuttle . The second-stage design had also settled on six Raptor engines by 2019: three optimized for sea-level and three optimized for vacuum . In 2019 SpaceX announced a change to the second stage's design, reducing the number of aft flaps from three to two in order to reduce weight. In March 2020 SpaceX released a Starship Users Guide, in which they stated the payload of Starship to LEO would be in excess of 100 t (220,000 lb), with
12798-415: The Starship upper stage, is modified with a regeneratively cooled nozzle extension made of brazed steel tubes, increasing its expansion ratio to about 90 and its specific impulse in vacuum to 380 seconds (3.7 km/s). The main combustion chamber operates at a pressure of 350 bar (5,100 psi) exceeding that of any prior operational rocket engine. The Raptor's gimbaling range is 15°, higher than
12960-537: The United States at that time. Two main reasons for the cancellation of the last three Apollo missions were the heavy investments in Saturn V and the ever-increasing costs of the Vietnam War to the U.S. in money and resources. In the time frame from 1969 to 1971 the cost of launching a Saturn V Apollo mission was between $ 185,000,000 to $ 189,000,000, of which $ 110 million were used for the production of
13122-535: The acceleration and vehicle attitude , it could calculate the position and velocity of the rocket and correct for any deviations. After the construction and ground testing of each stage was completed, they were each shipped to the Kennedy Space Center. The first two stages were so massive that the only way to transport them was by barge. The S-IC, constructed in New Orleans, was transported down
13284-404: The aircraft. Other than that a range of non-rocket liftoff systems have been proposed and explored over time as reusable systems for liftoff, from balloons to space elevators . Existing examples are systems which employ winged horizontal jet-engine powered liftoff. Such aircraft can air launch expendable rockets and can because of that be considered partially reusable systems if the aircraft
13446-559: The atmosphere and navigate through it, so they are often equipped with heat shields , grid fins , and other flight control surfaces . By modifying their shape, spaceplanes can leverage aviation mechanics to aid in its recovery, such as gliding or lift . In the atmosphere, parachutes or retrorockets may also be needed to slow it down further. Reusable parts may also need specialized recovery facilities such as runways or autonomous spaceport drone ships . Some concepts rely on ground infrastructures such as mass drivers to accelerate
13608-459: The booster throttles down its engines. The booster then rotates, before igniting ten additional engines for a "boostback burn" which stops all forward velocity. After the boostback burn, the booster's engines shut off with Super Heavy on a trajectory for a controlled descent to the launch site using its grid fins for minor course corrections. Roughly six minutes after launch, shortly before landing, it ignites its inner 13 engines, then shuts off all but
13770-490: The build-up of deposits in the engine from coking . Methane can also be produced from carbon dioxide and water using the Sabatier reaction . The engines are designed to be reused many times with little maintenance. Raptor operates with an oxygen-to-methane mixture ratio of about 3.6:1 , lower than the stoichiometric mixture ratio of 4:1 necessary for complete combustion, since operating at higher temperatures would melt
13932-412: The change of material; low cost and ease of manufacture, increased strength of stainless steel at cryogenic temperatures , as well as its ability to withstand high heat. In 2019, SpaceX began to refer to the entire vehicle as Starship, with the second stage also being called Starship , and the booster Super Heavy . They also announced that Starship would use reusable heat-shield tiles similar to those of
14094-435: The company disclosed a public construction plan for two sub-orbital launch pads, two orbital launch pads, two landing pads, two test stands, and a large propellant tank farm. The company soon proposed developing the surrounding Boca Chica Village, Texas , into a company town named Starbase . Locals raised concerns about SpaceX's authority, power, and a potential threat for eviction through eminent domain . In early April,
14256-531: The craft down enough to prevent injury to astronauts. This can be seen in the Soyuz capsule. Though such systems have been in use since the beginning of astronautics to recover space vehicles, only later have the vehicles been reused. E.g.: Single or main stages, as well as fly-back boosters can employ a horizontal landing system. These vehicles land on earth much like a plane does, but they usually do not use propellant during landing. Examples are: A variant
14418-430: The early decades of human capacity to achieve spaceflight were designed to be single-use items. This was true both for satellites and space probes intended to be left in space for a long time, as well as any object designed to return to Earth such as human-carrying space capsules or the sample return canisters of space matter collection missions like Stardust (1999–2006) or Hayabusa (2005–2010). Exceptions to
14580-418: The early stages of launch. If the first stage had used LH2, the volume required would have been more than three times greater, which would have been aerodynamically infeasible at the time. The upper stages also used small solid-propellant ullage motors that helped to separate the stages during the launch, and to ensure that the liquid propellants were in a proper position to be drawn into the pumps. The S-IC
14742-415: The engine. The propellants leave the pre-burners and get injected into the main combustion chamber as hot gases instead of liquid droplets allowing a higher power density as the propellants mix rapidly via diffusion . The methane and oxygen are at high enough temperatures and pressures that they ignite on contact , eliminating the need for igniters in the main combustion chamber. The engine structure itself
14904-450: The engines draw propellant from the main tanks, with the liquid oxygen being drawn from a dedicated header tank during the landing burn. Like the thrust vector control system, the engine shielding, which isolates individual engines in the event of a failure, was upgraded after Starship's first flight test, alongside the fire suppression system . This system uses CO 2 tanks to purge the individual engine compartments during flight, as well as
15066-416: The engines. The design of this manifold was changed when Super Heavy was upgraded from 29 engines to 33, with the more modern design featuring a dedicated methane sump instead of a direct distribution manifold. The oxygen tank terminates with the thrust structure of the vehicle. While the outer 20 engines are mounted to the walls of the aft bay, the inner thirteen are mounted directly to the thrust puck, which
15228-605: The entire stack was moved from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to the launch pad using the Crawler Transporter (CT). Built by the Marion Power Shovel Company (and later used for transporting the smaller and lighter Space Shuttle, as well as the Space Launch System ), the CT ran on four double-tracked treads, each with 57 "shoes". Each shoe weighed 2,000 pounds (910 kg). This transporter
15390-492: The far more promising Skylon design, which remains in development. From the late 1990s to the 2000s, the European Space Agency studied the recovery of the Ariane 5 solid rocket boosters. The last recovery attempt took place in 2009. The commercial ventures, Rocketplane Kistler and Rotary Rocket , attempted to build reusable privately developed rockets before going bankrupt. NASA proposed reusable concepts to replace
15552-417: The first 30 seconds of flight. If all three stages were to explode simultaneously on the launch pad, an unlikely event, the Saturn V had a total explosive yield of 543 tons of TNT or 0.543 kilotons (2,271,912,000,000 J or 155,143 lbs of weight loss), which is 0.222 kt for the first stage, 0.263 kt for the second stage and 0.068 kt for the third stage. (See Saturn V Instrument Unit ) Contrary to popular myth ,
15714-447: The first flown and mass-produced full-flow staged combustion cycle engines, which burn liquid methane (natural gas) and liquid oxygen . The main structure is made from a special stainless steel alloy that SpaceX has dubbed "30X". As of 2024, Starship is in development with an iterative and incremental approach , involving test flights of prototype vehicles . As a successor to SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, Starship
15876-407: The first orbital flight test. Three engines were disabled during the launch sequence and several more failed during the flight. The booster later lost thrust vectoring control of the Raptor engines, which led to the rocket spinning out of control. The vehicle reached a maximum altitude of 24 mi (39 km). Approximately 3 minutes after lift-off the rocket's autonomous flight termination system
16038-431: The first practical rocket vehicles ( V-2 ) could reach the fringes of space, reusable technology was too heavy. In addition, many early rockets were developed to deliver weapons, making reuse impossible by design. The problem of mass efficiency was overcome by using multiple expendable stages in a vertical launch multistage rocket . USAF and NACA had been studying orbital reusable spaceplanes since 1958, e.g. Dyna-Soar , but
16200-476: The first reusable stages did not fly until the advent of the US Space Shuttle in 1981. Perhaps the first reusable launch vehicles were the ones conceptualized and studied by Wernher von Braun from 1948 until 1956. The Von Braun Ferry Rocket underwent two revisions: once in 1952 and again in 1956. They would have landed using parachutes. The General Dynamics Nexus was proposed in the 1960s as
16362-457: The first stage ignition sequence started. The center engine ignited first, followed by opposing outboard pairs at 300-millisecond intervals to reduce the structural loads on the rocket. When thrust had been confirmed by the onboard computers, the rocket was "soft-released" in two stages: first, the hold-down arms released the rocket, and second, as the rocket began to accelerate upwards, it was slowed by tapered metal pins pulled through holes for half
16524-528: The first time. The Ship completed its second successful reentry and returned for a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The test marked the second instance that could be considered meeting all requirements to be fully reusable. Partial reusable launch systems, in the form of multiple stage to orbit systems have been so far the only reusable configurations in use. The historic Space Shuttle reused its Solid Rocket Boosters , its RS-25 engines and
16686-426: The five J-2 engines. For the first seven crewed Apollo missions, only four ullage motors were used on the S-II, and they were eliminated for the final four launches. About 30 seconds after first stage separation, the interstage ring dropped from the second stage. This was done with an inertially fixed attitude—orientation around its center of gravity —so that the interstage, only 3 feet 3 inches (1 m) from
16848-560: The flight profile posed a risk of explosion. FAA space division chief Wayne Monteith said SpaceX's violation was “inconsistent with a strong safety culture”, and criticized the company for proceeding with the launch "based on 'impressions' and 'assumptions,' rather than procedural checks and positive affirmations". On 2 February 2021, Starship SN9 launched to 10 km (6.2 mi) in a flight path similar to SN8. The prototype crashed upon landing because one engine did not ignite properly. A month later, on 3 March, Starship SN10 launched on
17010-416: The four outer engines for control. The S-II was 81.6 feet (24.87 m) tall with a diameter of 33 feet (10 m), identical to the S-IC, and thus was the largest cryogenic stage until the launch of the Space Shuttle in 1981. The S-II had a dry mass of about 80,000 pounds (36,000 kg); when fully fueled, it weighed 1,060,000 pounds (480,000 kg). The second stage accelerated the Saturn V through
17172-556: The fuel needed for landing, and allow landing at destinations in the Solar System where runways do not exist (for example, Mars). Under the forward flaps, hardpoints are used for lifting and catching the spacecraft via mechanical arms. The flap's hinges are sealed in aero-covers because they would otherwise be easily damaged during reentry. Starship's heat shield is composed of eighteen thousand hexagonal black tiles that can withstand temperatures of 1,400 °C (2,600 °F). It
17334-670: The general rule for space vehicles were the US Gemini SC-2 , the Soviet Union spacecraft Vozvraschaemyi Apparat (VA) , the US Space Shuttle orbiter (mid-1970s-2011, with 135 flights between 1981 and 2011) and the Soviet Buran (1980-1988, with just one uncrewed test flight in 1988). Both of these spaceships were also an integral part of the launch system (providing launch acceleration) as well as operating as medium-duration spaceships in space . This began to change in
17496-535: The ground, in order to retrieve and reuse the vehicle. As of 2021 , SpaceX is building and testing the Starship spaceship to be capable of surviving multiple hypersonic reentries through the atmosphere so that they become truly reusable long-duration spaceships; no Starship operational flights have yet occurred. With possible inflatable heat shields , as developed by the US (Low Earth Orbit Flight Test Inflatable Decelerator - LOFTID) and China, single-use rockets like
17658-567: The ground, its engines were hampered by low methane header tank pressure during the landing attempt, which led to a hard impact with the landing pad and subsequent explosion of the vehicle. Because SpaceX had violated its launch license and ignored warnings of worsening shock wave damage, the Federal Aviation Administration investigated the incident for two months. During the SN8 launch, SpaceX ignored FAA warnings that
17820-423: The hardpoints. Additionally, four "cowbell" vents are located just below the common dome, which point down towards the engines, though at a slight angle. The interstage is also equipped with four electrically actuated grid fins made of stainless steel, each with a mass of 3 t (6,600 lb). These grid fins are paired together, with the fins in each pair being 60 degrees apart from each other, differing from
17982-408: The inner 3, to perform a landing burn which slows it sufficiently to be caught by a pair of hydraulic actuating arms attached to the launch tower. The booster landing and catch was successfully demonstrated for the first time on October 13, 2024, with the landing of Booster 12. Meanwhile, the Starship spacecraft continues to accelerate to orbital velocity with its six Raptor engines. Once in orbit,
18144-399: The inner thirteen engines. On Booster 15, the header tank has at least nine additional tanks attached, increasing total propellant supply during the landing burn. These tanks may have been present on Boosters 12, 13, and 14, though this is unconfirmed. Booster 5 was the only 29 engine booster to receive a header tank, which was mounted to the side of the oxygen tank. It is unknown whether or not
18306-561: The interstage when flying Block 2 and Block 3 boosters, as the interstage will be directly integrated into the vehicle. The current Block 1 of the Starship spacecraft is 50.3 m (165 ft) tall, 9 m (30 ft) in diameter, and has 6 Raptor engines, 3 of which are optimized for use in outer space. The future Block 3 of the Starship spacecraft is planned to have an additional 3 Raptor Vacuum engines for increased payload capacity. Starship Block 1's payload bay, measuring 17 m (56 ft) tall by 8 m (26 ft) in diameter,
18468-426: The launch tower's systems, increasing payload mass to orbit, increasing launch frequency, mass-manufacturing the rockets and adapting it to a wide range of space missions. Starship is the latest project in SpaceX's reusable launch system development program and plan to colonize Mars . Starship's two stages are the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft . Both stages are equipped with Raptor engines ,
18630-432: The launch vehicle beforehand. Since at least in the early 20th century, single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicles have existed in science fiction . In the 1970s, the first reusable launch vehicle, the Space Shuttle , was developed. However, in the 1990s, due to the program's failure to meet expectations, reusable launch vehicle concepts were reduced to prototype testing. The rise of private spaceflight companies in
18792-406: The loss of tank pressure and an engine. In June 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration determined that SpaceX must address more than 75 issues identified in the preliminary environmental assessment before integrated flight tests could start. In July 2022, Booster 7 tested the liquid oxygen turbopumps on all 33 Raptor engines, resulting in an explosion at the vehicle's base, which destroyed
18954-561: The mid-2010s. In the 2010s, the space transport cargo capsule from one of the suppliers resupplying the International Space Station was designed for reuse, and after 2017, NASA began to allow the reuse of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft on these NASA-contracted transport routes. This was the beginning of design and operation of a reusable space vehicle . The Boeing Starliner capsules also reduce their fall speed with parachutes and deploy an airbag shortly before touchdown on
19116-459: The most fuel-efficient trajectory toward its target orbit. If the instrument unit failed, the crew could switch control of the Saturn to the command module's computer, take manual control, or abort the flight. About 90 seconds before the second stage cutoff, the center engine shut down to reduce longitudinal pogo oscillations. At around this time, the LOX flow rate decreased, changing the mix ratio of
19278-490: The need for secondary engine shielding. However, the first Block 2 vehicle, S33, received Raptor 2 engines. The capacity to manufacture Block 2 became possible as a large portion of the Starfactory was commissioned in 2024. Block 2 will be first flown on the seventh flight test . As of June 2024, the Block 3 final configuration is unknown. The most recent configuration, as described in regulatory filings submitted to
19440-480: The nine Merlin engines a powering a Falcon 9 launched for the 22nd time, making it the most reused liquid fuel engine used in an operational manner, having already surpassed Space Shuttle Main Engine number 2019's record of 19 flights. As of 2024, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are the only orbital rockets to reuse their boosters, although multiple other systems are in development. All aircraft-launched rockets reuse
19602-500: The noise produced was not able to melt concrete . It took about 12 seconds for the rocket to clear the tower. During this time, it yawed 1.25 degrees away from the tower to ensure adequate clearance despite adverse winds; this yaw, although small, can be seen in launch photos taken from the east or west. At an altitude of 430 feet (130 m) the rocket rolled to the correct flight azimuth and then gradually pitched down until 38 seconds after second stage ignition. This pitch program
19764-467: The orbital launch pad's fuel storage tanks began mounting. SN12 through SN14 were scrapped before completion; SN15 was selected to fly instead, due to improved avionics , structure, and engines. On 5 May 2021, SN15 launched, completed the same maneuvers as older prototypes, and landed safely. SN15 had a fire in the engine area after landing but it was extinguished. According to a later report by SpaceX, SN15 experienced several issues while landing, including
19926-503: The outboard J-2 engines, would fall cleanly without hitting them, as the interstage could have potentially damaged two of the J-2 engines if it was attached to the S-IC. Shortly after interstage separation the Launch Escape System was also jettisoned. About 38 seconds after the second stage ignition, the Saturn V switched from a preprogrammed trajectory to a "closed loop" or Iterative Guidance Mode. The instrument unit now computed in real time
20088-433: The planning process, NASA considered three methods for the Moon mission: Earth orbit rendezvous (EOR), direct ascent , and lunar orbit rendezvous (LOR). A direct ascent configuration would require an extremely large rocket to send a three-man spacecraft to land directly on the lunar surface. An EOR would launch the direct-landing spacecraft in two smaller parts which would combine in Earth orbit. A LOR mission would involve
20250-551: The powerful F-1 and J-2 rocket engines ; during testing at Stennis Space Center, the force developed by the engines shattered the windows of nearby houses. Designers decided early on to attempt to use as much technology from the Saturn I program as possible for the Saturn V. Consequently, the S-IVB -500 third stage of the Saturn V was based on the S-IVB-200 second stage of the Saturn IB . The instrument unit that controlled
20412-552: The project director of the Saturn V rocket program in August 1963. He developed the requirements for the rocket system and the mission plan for the Apollo program. The first Saturn V launch lifted off from Kennedy Space Center and performed flawlessly on November 9, 1967, Rudolph's birthday. He was then assigned as the special assistant to the director of MSFC in May 1968 and subsequently retired from NASA on January 1, 1969. On July 16, 1969,
20574-511: The rocket rapidly lost mass, total acceleration including gravity increased to nearly 4 g at T+135 seconds. At this point, the inboard (center) engine was shut down to prevent acceleration from increasing beyond 4 g . When oxidizer or fuel depletion was sensed in the suction assemblies, the remaining four outboard engines were shut down. First stage separation occurred a little less than one second after this to allow for F-1 thrust tail-off. Eight small solid fuel separation motors backed
20736-430: The same flight path as SN9. The vehicle landed hard and crushed its landing legs, leaning to one side. A fire was seen at the vehicle's base and it exploded less than ten minutes later, potentially due to a propellant tank rupture. On 30 March, Starship SN11 flew into thick fog along the same flight path. The vehicle exploded during descent, possibly due to excess propellant in a Raptor's methane turbopump. In March 2021,
20898-400: The same height and mass and contained the same electrical connections as the actual stages. NASA stacked (assembled) the Saturn V on a Mobile Launcher , which consisted of a Launch Umbilical Tower with nine swing arms (including the crew access arm), a "hammerhead" crane, and a water suppression system which was activated prior to engine ignition during a launch. After assembly was completed,
21060-469: The second and third stage. NASA had finalized its plans to proceed with von Braun's Saturn designs, and the Apollo space program gained speed. The stages were designed by von Braun's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, and outside contractors were chosen for the construction: Boeing ( S-IC ), North American Aviation ( S-II ), Douglas Aircraft ( S-IVB ), and IBM ( instrument unit ). Early in
21222-404: The second and third stages. Only the Space Shuttle has achieved a reuse of the orbital insertion stage, by using the engines and fuel tank of its orbiter . The Buran spaceplane and Starship spacecraft are two other reusable spacecraft that were designed to be able to act as orbital insertion stages and have been produced, however the former only made one uncrewed test flight before the project
21384-474: The second stage "pushes off" from the first stage giving added thrust. The vented interstage contains a dome to shield the top of Super Heavy from the second stage's engines. Elon Musk in 2023 claimed that this change might result in a 10% increase in the payload to low Earth orbit . Beginning with Booster 11, the interstage is jettisoned after completion of the boostback burn, in order to reduce mass during descent. As of June 2024, SpaceX does not intend to jettison
21546-527: The shaped explosive charges attached to the outer surfaces of the rocket to detonate. These would make cuts in fuel and oxidizer tanks to disperse the fuel quickly and to minimize mixing. The pause between these two actions would give time for the crew to escape via the Launch Escape Tower or (in the later stages of the flight) the propulsion system of the Service module. A third command, "safe",
21708-438: The ship quick disconnect (SQD) arm and booster quick disconnect (BQD). The SQD and BQD retract, all 33 engines of Super Heavy ignite, and the rocket lifts off. At approximately 159 seconds after launch at an altitude of roughly 64 km (40 mi), Super Heavy cuts off all but three of its center gimbaling rocket engines. Starship then ignites its engines while still attached to the booster, and separates. During hot-staging,
21870-641: The space flight industry. So much so that in 2024, the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station initiated a 50 year forward looking plan for the Cape that involved major infrastructure upgrades (including to Port Canaveral ) to support a higher anticipated launch cadence and landing sites for the new generation of vehicles. Reusable launch systems may be either fully or partially reusable. Several companies are currently developing fully reusable launch vehicles as of March 2024. Each of them
22032-410: The spacecraft following reentry . A set of reaction control thrusters , which use the pressure in the fuel tank, control attitude while in space. The spacecraft has four body flaps to control the spacecraft's orientation and help dissipate energy during atmospheric entry , composed of two forward flaps and two aft flaps. According to SpaceX, the flaps replace the need for wings or tailplane , reduce
22194-402: The spacecraft is planned to be able to be refueled by another Starship tanker variant. Musk has estimated that 8 launches would be needed to completely refuel a Starship in low Earth orbit. NASA has estimated that 16 launches in short succession (due to cryogenic propellant boil-off) would be needed to partially refuel Starship for one lunar landing. To land on bodies without an atmosphere, such as
22356-418: The tanks. The booster's tanks hold 3,400 t (7,500,000 lb) of propellant, consisting of 2,700 t (6,000,000 lb) of liquid oxygen and 700 t (1,500,000 lb) of liquid methane. The methane tank has a camera installed in the forward dome, enabling images of the interior of the tank. Fuel is fed to the engines via a single downcomer, which terminates in a large distribution manifold above
22518-476: The test and to prevent future issues. The foundation of the launch tower was reinforced and a water powered flame deflector was built under the launch mount. Ship 25 and Booster 9 were rolled to the suborbital and orbital launch sites in May to undergo multiple tests. Reusable launch vehicle Reusable launch vehicles may contain additional avionics and propellant , making them heavier than their expendable counterparts. Reused parts may need to enter
22680-420: The thrust puck/aft dome assembly. These engines are equipped with gimbal actuators , and reignite for the boostback and landing burns. After Starship's first flight test , this gimbaling system was switched from a hydraulic system to an electric one, enabling the removal of the hydraulic power units. This change was made to the upper stage after the second flight test . During the ascent burn and boostback burns,
22842-458: The top of the LOX tank and bottom of the LH2 tank. It consisted of two aluminum sheets separated by a honeycomb structure made of phenolic resin . This bulkhead had to be able to insulate against the 126 °F (70 °C) temperature difference between the two tanks. The use of a common bulkhead saved 7,900 pounds (3.6 t) by both eliminating one bulkhead and reducing the stage's length. Like
23004-472: The top of this tank was ever completed, as a forward dome was never spotted. The methane downcomer is partially contained within the header tank, as the methane sump is located directly below it. On Booster 7 and all subsequent vehicles, four chines are located on the sides of the oxygen tank, protecting the COPVs and CO 2 tanks for fire suppression , as well as providing lift during descent. Super Heavy
23166-465: The two launch pads). From 1964 until 1973, $ 6.417 billion (equivalent to $ 40.9 billion in 2023) was appropriated for the Research and Development and flights of the Saturn V, with the maximum being in 1966 with $ 1.2 billion (equivalent to $ 8.61 billion in 2023). That same year, NASA received its largest total budget of $ 4.5 billion, about 0.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of
23328-439: The two propellants and ensuring that there would be as little propellant as possible left in the tanks at the end of second stage flight. This was done at a predetermined delta-v . Five level sensors in the bottom of each S-II propellant tank were armed during S-II flight, allowing any two to trigger S-II cutoff and staging when they were uncovered. One second after the second stage cut off it separated and several seconds later
23490-422: The upper atmosphere with 1,100,000 pounds-force (4,900 kN) of thrust in a vacuum. When loaded with fuel, more than 90 percent of the mass of the stage was propellant; however, the ultra-lightweight design had led to two failures in structural testing. Instead of having an intertank structure to separate the two fuel tanks as was done in the S-IC, the S-II used a common bulkhead that was constructed from both
23652-633: The vehicle (equivalent to $ 1.18 billion–$ 1.2 billion in 2023). The Saturn V carried all Apollo lunar missions, which were launched from Launch Complex 39 at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida . After the rocket cleared the launch tower, flight control transferred to Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas . An average mission used the rocket for
23814-424: Was activated, though the vehicle tumbled for another 40 seconds before disintegrating. The first flight test blasted large amounts of sand and soil in the air, reaching communities within a 10.7 km (6.6 mi) radius. A brushfire on nearby state parkland also occurred, burning 3.5 acres of state parkland. After the first test flight, SpaceX began work on the launch mount to repair the damage it sustained during
23976-471: Was also designed with high mass efficiency, though not quite as aggressively as the S-II. The S-IVB had a dry mass of about 23,000 pounds (10,000 kg) and, when fully fueled, weighed about 262,000 pounds (119,000 kg). The S-IVB was the only rocket stage of the Saturn V small enough to be transported by the cargo plane Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy . For lunar missions it was fired twice: first for Earth orbit insertion after second stage cutoff, and
24138-585: Was also required to keep the rocket level as it traveled the 3 miles (4.8 km) to the launch site, especially at the 3 percent grade encountered at the launch pad. The CT also carried the Mobile Service Structure (MSS), which allowed technicians access to the rocket until eight hours before launch, when it was moved to the "halfway" point on the Crawlerway (the junction between the VAB and
24300-573: Was built by the Boeing Company at the Michoud Assembly Facility , New Orleans , where the Space Shuttle external tanks would later be built by Lockheed Martin . Most of its mass at launch was propellant: RP-1 fuel with liquid oxygen as the oxidizer . The stage was 138 feet (42 m) tall and 33 feet (10 m) in diameter. It provided 7,750,000 lbf (34,500 kN) of thrust at sea level. The S-IC stage had
24462-461: Was canceled after the last study of the design in 1967 due to a lack of funds for development. NASA started the Space Shuttle design process in 1968, with the vision of creating a fully reusable spaceplane using a crewed fly-back booster . This concept proved expensive and complex, therefore the design was scaled back to reusable solid rocket boosters and an expendable external tank . Space Shuttle Columbia launched and landed 27 times and
24624-689: Was canceled in 1993. In the late 1980s a fully reusable version of the Energia rocket, the Energia II, was proposed. Its boosters and core would have had the capability of landing separately on a runway. In the 1990s the McDonnell Douglas Delta Clipper VTOL SSTO proposal progressed to the testing phase. The DC-X prototype demonstrated rapid turnaround time and automatic computer control. In mid-1990s, British research evolved an earlier HOTOL design into
24786-431: Was cancelled, and the latter is not yet operational, having completed four orbital test flights , as of June 2024, which achieved all of its mission objectives at the fourth flight. Launch systems can be combined with reusable spaceplanes or capsules. The Space Shuttle orbiter , SpaceShipTwo , Dawn Mk-II Aurora, and the under-development Indian RLV-TD are examples for a reusable space vehicle (a spaceplane ) as well as
24948-567: Was carried by the Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy and Super Guppy , but could also have been carried by barge if warranted. Upon arrival at the Vertical Assembly Building, each stage was inspected in a horizontal position before being oriented vertically. NASA also constructed large spool-shaped structures that could be used in place of stages if a particular stage was delayed. These spools had
25110-562: Was destroyed in November 2019 during a pressure stress test and Mk2's Florida facility was deconstructed throughout 2020. After the Mk prototypes, SpaceX began naming its new Starship upper-stage prototypes with the prefix "SN", short for " serial number ". No prototypes between SN1 and SN4 flew either—SN1 and SN3 collapsed during pressure stress tests, and SN4 exploded after its fifth engine firing. In June 2020, SpaceX started constructing
25272-444: Was lost with all crew on the 28th landing attempt; Challenger launched and landed 9 times and was lost with all crew on the 10th launch attempt; Discovery launched and landed 39 times; Atlantis launched and landed 33 times; Endeavour launched and landed 25 times. In 1986 President Ronald Reagan called for an air-breathing scramjet National Aerospace Plane (NASP)/ X-30 . The project failed due to technical issues and
25434-410: Was proven on August 23, 2022, when Booster 7 was lifted onto OLM A. The first catch of a booster occurred on October 13, 2024, using Booster 12. After the first Starship test flight , all boosters have an additional 1.8 m tall vented interstage to enable hot staging . During hot staging, Super Heavy shuts down all but the 3 center engines, while the second stage fires its engines before separating, thus
25596-400: Was set according to the prevailing winds during the launch month. The four outboard engines also tilted toward the outside so that in the event of a premature outboard engine shutdown the remaining engines would thrust through the rocket's center of mass . The Saturn V reached 400 feet per second (120 m/s) at over 1 mile (1,600 m) in altitude. Much of the early portion of the flight
25758-451: Was spent gaining altitude, with the required velocity coming later. The Saturn V broke the sound barrier at just over 1 minute at an altitude of between 3.45 and 4.6 miles (5.55 and 7.40 km). At this point, shock collars, or condensation clouds, would form around the bottom of the command module and around the top of the second stage. At about 80 seconds, the rocket experienced maximum dynamic pressure (max q). The dynamic pressure on
25920-427: Was turned off about 26 seconds earlier than the outboard engines to limit acceleration. During launch, the S-IC fired its engines for 168 seconds (ignition occurred about 8.9 seconds before liftoff) and at engine cutoff, the vehicle was at an altitude of about 42 miles (67 km), was downrange about 58 miles (93 km), and was moving around 7,500 feet per second (2,300 m/s). While not put into production,
26082-453: Was used after the S-IVB stage reached orbit to irreversibly deactivate the self-destruct system. The system was also held inactive as long as the rocket was still on the launch pad. The first stage burned for about 2 minutes and 41 seconds, lifting the rocket to an altitude of 42 miles (68 km) and a speed of 6,164 miles per hour (2,756 m/s) and burning 4,700,000 pounds (2,100,000 kg) of propellant. At 8.9 seconds before launch,
26244-452: Was used for nine crewed flights to the Moon, and to launch Skylab , the first American space station . As of 2024, the Saturn V remains the only launch vehicle to have carried humans beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). The Saturn V holds the record for the largest payload capacity to low Earth orbit, 311,152 lb (141,136 kg), which included unburned propellant needed to send the Apollo command and service module and Lunar Module to
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