Service to Earth Orbit, Moon, Mars and Beyond
SpaceX's Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket - collectively referred to as Starship - represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is the world's most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.
| Height | 123m / 403 ft |
| Diameter | 9 m / 29.5 ft |
| Payload capacity | 100 - 150 t (fully reusable) |
Starship is the fully reusable spacecraft and second stage of the Starship system. The vehicle comes in several different configurations, offers an integrated payload section and is capable of carrying crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is also capable of point-to-point transport on Earth, enabling travel to anywhere in the world in one hour or less.
| Height | 52m / 171 ft |
| Diameter | 9 m / 29.5 ft |
| Propellant capacity | 1,500 t / 3.3 Mlb |
| Thrust | 1,500 tf / 3.3 Mlbf |
| Payload capacity | 100 - 150 t |
Super Heavy is the first stage, or booster, of the Starship launch system. Powered by 33 Raptor engines using sub-cooled liquid methane (CH4) and liquid oxygen (LOX), Super Heavy is fully reusable and will re-enter Earth's atmosphere to land back at the launch site.
| Height | 71m / 232 ft |
| Diameter | 9 m / 29.5 ft |
| Propellant capacity | 3,400 t / 7.5 Mlb |
| Thrust | 7,590 tf / 16.7 Mlbf |
The Raptor engine is a reusable methane-oxygen staged-combustion engine that powers the Starship system and has twice the thrust of the Falcon 9 Merlin engine. Starship will be powered by six engines, three Raptor engines, and three Raptor Vacuum (RVac) engines, which are designed for use in the vacuum of space. Super Heavy will be powered by 33 Raptor engines, with 13 in the center and the remaining 20 around the perimeter of the booster's aft end.
| Diameter | 1.3 m / 4.2 ft |
| Height | 3.1 m / 10.2 ft |
| Thrust | 230 tf / 507 klbf |
As the most powerful launch system ever developed, Starship will be able to carry up to 100 people on long-duration, interplanetary flights. Starship will also help enable satellite delivery, the development of a Moon base, and point-to-point transport here on Earth.
Starship is designed to deliver payloads farther and at a lower marginal cost per launch than our current Falcon vehicles. With a payload compartment larger than any fairing currently in operation or development, Starship will enable transport of many satellites, large space telescopes, and significant amounts of cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.
Starship will land humans on the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years as part of NASA’s Artemis missions.
Starship cargo flights to the lunar surface for research, development, and exploratory missions start in 2028, at a rate of $100 million per metric ton.
For additional information on payload masses, pricing details, and timeframes, please contact sales@spacex.com.
Starship cargo flights to the Martian surface for research, development, and exploratory missions start in 2030, at a rate of $100 million per metric ton.
For additional information on payload masses, pricing details, and timeframes, please contact sales@spacex.com.
Starship and Super Heavy are designed to return to the launch site and be caught following their flight, with the ability to rapidly turn around and launch again without refurbishment.
Starship leverages tanker vehicles (essentially the Starship spacecraft minus the windows) to refill the Starship spacecraft in low-Earth orbit prior to departing for Mars. Refilling on-orbit enables the transport several hundred tonnes of cargo per ship all the way to Mars. And if the tanker ship has high reuse capability, the primary cost is just that of the oxygen and methane, which is extremely low.
Development, manufacturing, testing, and launch of Starship takes place at Starbase, home to SpaceX headquarters and one of the world's first commercial spaceports designed for orbital missions.
Manufacturing hub for Starship and Super Heavy. Sized to be capable of building up to 1,000 Starships per year in order to send enough crew and cargo during Mars transfer windows to build a self-sustaining civilization.
Orbital launch pad and vehicle test site for prelaunch testing and flight of the world's most powerful rocket. The Starbase launch pad has two of the tallest launch towers in the world, specially designed to integrate, test, launch, and catch Starship and Super Heavy vehicles.