Showing posts with label Starship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Starship. Show all posts

Saturday, August 24, 2024

Starship development history from Starhopper to Flight test 3

While waiting for SpaceX's Starship orbital Flight test 5 in September, which will be the first to try to catch the Super Heavy booster, we can look back on the history of Starship's development. US 3D artist Nick Henning has created an animation with every test from Starhopper's 150m hop in August 2019 to Starship's orbital Flight test 3 in April 2024:

Monday, June 3, 2024

SpaceX Starship orbital flight test 4 - infographic by Tony Bela

Australian space illustrator Tony Bela has created an infographic of the upcoming 4th integrated flight test of SpaceX's Starship rocket (booster B11, ship S29) on Thursday, June 6 (the 120-minute test window opens at 7:00 a.m. CT) from Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX Starship B11S29 orbital flight test 4 - infographic by Tony Bela

SpaceX: "The fourth flight test turns our focus from achieving orbit to demonstrating the ability to return and reuse Starship and Super Heavy. The primary objectives will be executing a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico with the Super Heavy booster, and achieving a controlled entry of Starship. To accomplish this, several software and hardware upgrades have been made to increase overall reliability and address lessons learned from Flight 3. The SpaceX team will also implement operational changes, including the jettison of the Super Heavy’s hot-stage following boostback to reduce booster mass for the final phase of flight.

Flight 4 will fly a similar trajectory as the previous flight test, with Starship targeted to splashdown in the Indian Ocean. This flight path does not require a deorbit burn for reentry, maximizing public safety while still providing the opportunity to meet our primary objective of a controlled Starship reentry."


SpaceX livestream of the launch:

Sunday, April 28, 2024

NASA has revealed new designs of lunar cargo landers from SpaceX & Blue Origin

As we know NASA has contracted SpaceX and Blue Origin to provide landing systems to take astronauts to the Moon’s surface from lunar orbit, beginning with SpaceX's Lunar Starship for Artemis III mission.

On April 19, 2024, NASA announced it has asked SpaceX and Blue Origin to develop cargo versions of their human lunar landers as an option under their existing contracts. These cargo variants are expected to land approximately 12 to 15 metric tons (26,000 to 33,000 pounds) of payload on the lunar surface and be in service no earlier than the Artemis VII mission. In the announcement NASA shared the latest official renders of lunar cargo landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin:
SpaceX's Lunar cargo Starship
SpaceX's Lunar cargo Starship
Blue Origin's Lunar cargo Lander
Blue Origin's Lunar cargo Lander

Saturday, April 13, 2024

SpaceX Starship update 2024

On April 4th at Starbase, Texas SpaceX CEO and lead designer Elon Musk provided an unannounced update of SpaceX's Starship architecture. Here are slides and animations from his presentation.
Full presentation:

Slides from the presentation

Starship v1, v2 and v3 specifications:
SpaceX Starship update 2024 - Starship v1, v2 & v3 specifications
Thrust comparison of Raptor v1, v2 and v3:
SpaceX Starship update 2024 - Raptor engine v1, v2 & v3 specifications
First Mechazilla launch tower pairs at Starbase, Texas and Cape Canaveral, Florida:
SpaceX Starship update 2024 - Mechazilla Launch tower pair

Saturday, April 6, 2024

SpaceX Starbase at Texas - Humanity's Gateway to Mars

A symbolic photo of Starship' Integrated Flight Test 3 on March 14, 2024 from SpaceX's Starbase located at Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX Starbase at Texas - Humanity's Gateway to Mars (photo from IFT-3 on March 14, 2024)

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

SpaceX Starship orbital flight test 3 - infographic by Tony Bela

Australian space illustrator Tony Bela has created an infographic of the upcoming 3rd integrated flight test of SpaceX's Starship rocket (booster B10, ship S28) on Thursday, March 14 (the 110-minute test window opens at 7:00 a.m. CT) from Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX Starship orbital flight test 3 - infographic by Tony Bela

SpaceX: "The third flight test aims to build on what we’ve learned from previous flights while attempting a number of ambitious objectives, including the successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship’s payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage’s coast phase, the first ever re-light of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship. It will also fly a new trajectory, with Starship targeted to splashdown in the Indian Ocean."

SpaceX livestream of the launch:


Sunday, February 18, 2024

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

SpaceX Starship orbital flight test 2 - infographic by Tony Bela (updated)

Australian space illustrator Tony Bela has created an infographic of the upcoming 2nd integrated flight test of SpaceX's Starship rocket (booster B09, ship S25) on Saturday, November 18 Friday, November 17 (a 20 minute launch window opens at 7:00 a.m. CT pending final regulatory approval) from Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX Starship orbital flight test 2 - infographic by Tony Bela

SpaceX: "Starship’s first flight test [on April 20] provided numerous lessons learned that directly contributed to several upgrades to both the vehicle and ground infrastructure to improve the probability of success on future flights. The second flight test will debut a hot-stage separation system and a new electronic Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system for Super Heavy Raptor engines, in addition to reinforcements to the pad foundation and a water-cooled steel flame deflector, among many other enhancements."
Breakdown of Tony's infographic into phases:
SpaceX Starship orbital flight test 2 - phase 1 - infographic by Tony Bela

Friday, September 22, 2023

SpaceX Starship orbiting terraformed Mars by Erik Corshammar

Picture of the Day 22/09/2023 - SpaceX Starship orbiting partially terraformed Mars by Swedish space designer Erik Corshammar (Erc X). More of his art here.

SpaceX Starship orbiting terraformed Mars by Erik Corshammar

Saturday, July 22, 2023

SpaceX Starship landing at Mars Base Alpha by Mark Garlick

British illustrator Mark Garlick has created a set of renders depicting SpaceX's Starship landing at a spaceport near Mars Base Alpha. The spaceport is equipped with a shorter version of SpaceX's launch integration tower for catching and launching only the second stage of Starship rocket, since Mars's comparably lower gravity doesn't require Starship's booster stage to reach orbit.

SpaceX Starship landing at Mars Base Alpha by Mark Garlick

SpaceX Starship at Mars Base Alpha by Mark Garlick

SpaceX Starship at Mars Base Alpha by Mark Garlick

Thursday, April 13, 2023

SpaceX Starship orbital flight test 1 - infographic by Tony Bela

Australian space illustrator Tony Bela has created an infographic of the upcoming first integrated flight test of SpaceX's Starship rocket next week from Starbase, Boca Chica, Texas. We have been waiting for this test flight for a year and a half by now!

Infographic of SpaceX Starship orbital flight test 1 by Tony Bela
Updated version. You can download the infographic in full resolution here.
Infographic of SpaceX Starship orbital flight test 1 by Tony Bela

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

SpaceX Starship landing on Mars - 4K UHD renders from Elon's Starship update 2022

When SpaceX CEO and lead designer Elon Musk gave his latest Starship update in February 2022, the presentation contained an animation of Starship's mission to Mars with a landing at Mars Base Alpha in the end. Today SpaceX finally gave public access to 4K UHD version of that animation. Here are some images from it.
Starship landing at Mars Base Alpha:
SpaceX Mars Base Alpha from Elon Musk's Starship update 2022
Click HERE for 4K UHD resolution

SpaceX Mars Base Alpha spaceport from Elon Musk's Starship update 2022
Click HERE for 4K UHD resolution

SpaceX Starmen arriving at Mars Base Alpha from Elon Musk's Starship update 2022
Click HERE for 4K UHD resolution
Starship approaching Mars:
SpaceX Starship approaching Mars from Elon Musk's Starship update 2022
Click HERE for 4K UHD resolution

Sunday, March 19, 2023

SpaceX Starship returning from Mars by Colin Doublier

Picture of the Day 19/03/2023 - Painting of SpaceX Starship returning to Earth from Mars moments before being catched by Mechazilla launch tower arms; created by French urban artist Colin Doublier.

SpaceX Starship returning from Mars by Colin Doublier

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Sunday, January 29, 2023

First SpaceX astronauts stepping down on Mars; animation by iamVisual

YouTuber iamVisual has created an animation of SpaceX's Starship landing on Mars and the first astronauts stepping down on the surface of the Red Planet. Wait for a little surprise at the end of the animation 😉 Here you can watch the animation and see some images from it:

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Animation of SpaceX Starship flying to Mars by iamVisual, narrated by Carl Sagan

YouTuber iamVisual has created a new animation "Wanderers" depicting SpaceX Starship's flight to Mars. The animation is narrated by Carl Sagan, the famous visionary of space exploration and colonization, reading from his 1994 book "Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space". Here you can watch the animation and see some images from it:

Sunday, October 16, 2022

Thursday, October 13, 2022

Mars Base Alpha in a crater by Anastasia Volyk & Vladyslav Lysenko

Ukrainian 3D artists Anastasia Volyk and Vladyslav Lysenko have created a concept for SpaceX's Mars Base Alpha in a small Martian crater. The individual habitats scattered on the inner slope of the crater wall are connected with the center of the colony via partially underground hyperloop lines. In the further future hyperloop lines could connect Mars Base Alpha with other human colonies on Mars. I would place Starship launch pads outside the crater.

Mars Base Alpha in a crater by Anastasia Volyk and Vladyslav Lysenko

Mars Base Alpha by Anastasia Volyk and Vladyslav Lysenko

SpaceX Starship launch from Mars Base Alpha by Anastasia Volyk and Vladyslav Lysenko

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Artemis rockets (SLS & Starship) that will get us to the Moon - infographic by Tony Bela

Australian space illustrator Tony Bela has created an infographic of Artemis rockets – NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), boosting Orion crew capsule to lunar orbit, and SpaceX's Human Landing System (known as Lunar Starship) – that will get the humanity back to the surface of the Moon.

Infographic of Artemis rockets - NASA's SLS & SpaceX's Starship - by Tony Bela
You can download the infographic in its original resolution here.

Friday, July 15, 2022

VR tour of SpaceX Starship interior concept by Paul King

British interior architect / designer Paul King has updated his concept of SpaceX's Starship interior with an interactive VR tour created by Ryan Thomas and modelled by Jen Christensen & Dale Rutherford. His concept divides Starship's pressurized living space into six 2.5m high levels and is designed for 20 (one shift) to 40 (two shifts sharing the same crew pods) passengers.

Explore the interactive VR tour HERE

Detailed concept HERE

Here are some images from the VR tour. Flight deck (level 6):
SpaceX Starship interior concept by Paul King - Level 6 (flight deck)
One of the crew pods (level 4):
SpaceX Starship interior concept by Paul King - Level 4 (crew pod 1)
EVA area (level 1):
SpaceX Starship interior concept by Paul King - Level 1 (EVA & storage)