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:

Thrust comparison of Raptor v1, v2 and v3:

First Mechazilla launch tower pairs at Starbase, Texas and Cape Canaveral, Florida:

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 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: "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:

Harmonia City - Part 5 of Martian sketches by Andrey Maximov

Environment concept artist Andrey Maximov from Armenia has created an impressive set of artworks called Martian sketches depicting a "routine" journey to Mars in 2089. So far he has published 30 pages of those sketches. As the artist describes them: "this series is kind of like the road sketches of a member of an expedition to Mars. It's a routine flight in the not-too-distant future. The planet is more or less inhabited. We have an orbital station around Mars. There are already several settlements on the surface, mining is going on."

• 1st part (10 sketches) of Andrey's Martian sketches depicted the expedition leaving Earth;
• 2nd part (5 sketches) depicted expedition's arrival to "International Mars Orbital Station";
• 3rd part (6 sketches) depicted spaceport "Anteros" on Mars.
• 4th part (4 sketches) depicted expedition's road to the "Harmonia City".

Here is 5th part (5 sketches) depicting the multi-leveled "Harmonia City" on Mars:

SpaceX Starship next to a solar farm on Mars

Two renders of SpaceX's Starship standing next to a solar farm on Mars by German 3D artist and YouTuber 3D_Daniel.

Road to the City - Part 4 of Martian sketches by Andrey Maximov

Environment concept artist Andrey Maximov from Armenia has created an impressive set of artworks called Martian sketches depicting a "routine" journey to Mars in 2089. So far he has published 30 pages of those sketches. As the artist describes them: "this series is kind of like the road sketches of a member of an expedition to Mars. It's a routine flight in the not-too-distant future. The planet is more or less inhabited. We have an orbital station around Mars. There are already several settlements on the surface, mining is going on."

• 1st part (10 sketches) of Andrey's Martian sketches depicted the expedition leaving Earth;
• 2nd part (5 sketches) depicted expedition's arrival to "International Mars Orbital Station";
• 3rd part (6 sketches) depicted spaceport "Anteros" on Mars.

Here is 4th part (4 sketches) depicting expedition's road to the "Harmonia City" on Mars:

How to steal an asteroid .. "For All Mankind" season 4

It's possible our judgement is biased towards Mars-related content, but season 4 of For All Mankind alternate history sci-fi TV series is show's most exciting season yet. In season 4, depicting the alternate 2003, the international Happy Valley Base, founded in 1995 during season 3, has been significantly expanded and there are around 200 people living in it. We made a separate article with a large collection of high resolution shots depicting the exterior and interior of Happy Valley Base:

Mars base for 200 people in For All Mankind season 4

The main theme in season 4 is increasingly diverging visions for the purpose of human presence on Mars. For some it's only another contract job, but for others Mars is a new place to call "home". Add to the mix a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get hold on a large lithium-rich asteroid and increasingly strained relationships between the "upper class" (astronauts / cosmonauts, scientists and top executives) and contract workers literally living underground, and you have a recipe for a "Martian rebellion".

For All Mankind is exploring the idea of never ending space race if Soviets would have beaten US in the race for the Moon and the intention of the show is each season to jump about a decade further into the increasingly diverging reality of the show: in season 1, depicting alternate 1969 to 1974, both Soviets and US start building their separate bases near the lunar South pole; in season 2 (1983) both bases have been expanded and the superpowers compete for resources on the Lunar surface; in season 3 (1992 to 1995), Soviets and US are joined by a private company Helios and North Korea for a four way race to be first on Mars; in season 4 (2003) there is a sprawling international human base on Mars and an unexpected side enters the race to get hold on a large, lithium-rich asteroid for mining. You can watch the show on Apple TV+

Ahead there is a VISUAL RECAP OF SEASON 4, consisting of high resolution shots, downscaled from 4K UHD screens for better image quality. Be aware of heavy spoilers, revealing major story plots:

During season 4 interplanetary ships don't land directly on Mars; instead they dock to Phoenix, orbiting Mars, and the rest of the trip is made via small shuttles heading down to the surface:

Ed and Svetlana flying the asteroid capture ship Ranger:

Season 4 starts with an unsuccessful asteroid capture mission:

Mars base for 200 people in "For All Mankind" season 4

Season 4 of For All Mankind alternate history sci-fi TV series, depicting alternate 2003, "is really about the building of a new civilization on Mars" by the words of the co-creator of the series Ben Nedivi. The international Happy Valley Base, founded in 1995 during season 3 and located in Melas Chasma in the Valles Marineris canyon system on Mars, has been significantly expanded and there are around 200 people living in the base during season 4. The base is financed and operated by Mars-7 Alliance (consisting of US, USSR, ESA, North Korea, India, Japan, and the Coalition of Communist Countries for Spaceflight (CCCS)) and maintained by a private company Helios Aerospace.

Ground level of the base features several separate facilities for power generation, communications, fuel refinement, regolith processing, algae production, storage etc. and a central interconnected cluster of modules consisting of the Entrance hall for new arrivals with airlocks for the rovers, control rooms, laboratories, hydroponic farms, meeting rooms, warehouses / garages, a cafeteria, as well as the quarters for higher level personnel and astronauts / cosmonauts. The base has 5 underground sublevels, of which level 4 & 5 are still under construction in 2003 and not accessible. The sublevels house maintenance and storage rooms and additional quarters for workers. There is also a separate North Korean sector accessible only to North Koreans. The base also operates six landing pads for their orbital Hopper shuttles.

The design of the Happy Valley Base in For All Mankind is the most plausible design of a mid-sized human base on Mars that we have ever seen in a TV series or film.

For All Mankind is exploring the idea of never ending space race if Soviets would have beaten US in the race for the Moon and the intention of the show is each season to jump about a decade further into the increasingly diverging reality of the show: in season 1, depicting alternate 1969 to 1974, both Soviets and US start building their separate bases near the lunar South pole; in season 2 (1983) both bases have been expanded and the superpowers compete for resources on the Lunar surface; in season 3 (1992 to 1995), Soviets and US are joined by a private company Helios and North Korea for a four way race to be first on Mars; in season 4 (2003) there is a sprawling international human base on Mars and an unexpected side enters the race to get hold on a large, lithium-rich asteroid for mining.

Here we collected high resolution shots from season 4 (downscaled from 4K UHD screens for better image quality) depicting the exterior and interior of Happy Valley Base on Mars. No images revealing major story plots are included. We will make a separate article with season 4 story spoilers after the last episode will be released on January 12. [UPDATED:]

How to steal an asteroid .. "For All Mankind" season 4

Ganymede, the breadbasket of the Belt, in "The Expanse" TV series

Ganymede is one of the "Galilean moons" of Jupiter and the largest moon in the Solar System. It's only slightly smaller than Mars, but with only half the density, its gravity is actually weaker than the Moon's. Ganymede is the only moon with any magnetosphere thus having the ability to deflect charged ionizing radiation. In the universe of The Expanse TV series (a political sci-fi drama set in mid-24th century when humans have colonized the entire Solar system) Ganymede acts as the breadbasket of the Belt - one of the three competing powers in The Expanse, along with the United Nations (based on Earth) and Mars.

In the universe of The Expanse Ganymede has millions of residents and Ganymede Station was one of the first permanent human settlements in the outer planets, built as a long term colony with large domes filled with food crops. Large mirrors were placed around the moon to supply the Sun's light to the surface for crop growth. It was known as the safest station in the Jovian system, and many humans from other colonies traveled to Ganymede to deliver their babies, as the magnetosphere helps claim the Jovian moon the lowest amount of birth defects and stillbirths. Initially, at the start of the series, Ganymede is divided between the United Nations and Mars.

The life on Ganymede is depicted in season 2 of The Expanse. Here you can view some of the best shots from Ganymede (downscaled from 4K UHD screens for better image quality) as well as some concept art for it.

Inside an agricultural dome on Ganymede:

Magnetosphere protects Ganymede from Jupiter's harsh radiation belt:

A ship landing at a human colony on Ganymede:

Concept art for a Ganymede greenhouse by Romain Jouandeau:

Tesla Cybertruck - a pickup truck made for Mars

4 years after the initial unveiling, today is the day when the long-anticipated Tesla Cybertrucks will be delivered to the first customers. Cybertruck is an electric pickup truck with a radically different design and features that no other automaker has ever attempted. Tesla's stainless steel pickup truck doesn't even look like it's made for Earth. Indeed, on several occasions, Elon Musk has stated that a "pressurized edition" of Cybertruck will be the "official truck of Mars".

Illustration of Tesla Cybertruck on Mars by Canadian graphic designer Andres Gonzalez

Of course, the Cybertruck will need to be heavily modified to be useful in Martian conditions (the pressure difference is just one of the problems that will need to be solved), but we can easily imagine a truck with Cybertruck's design features driving around on Mars in not so distant future. We can even imagine a Tesla factory producing those Martian Cybertrucks on Mars itself as early as the 2050s.

Cybertruck Delivery Event will be livestreamed on Tesla's website at 2:00 pm CT.