SpaceX provided details about the expected capabilities of its fully reusable Starship super-heavy-lift launch system in a payload users guide that was issued online today.
- Starship and its Super Heavy booster are still in their early stages of development — primarily at SpaceX's Boca Chica launch complex in south Texas, where a new round of tests could begin as early as this week. SpaceX plans to conduct Starship launches at the Boca Chica site as well as at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
- Uncrewed missions could deliver more than 100 tons of cargo to low Earth orbit, or to the moon or Mars with in-space refueling, according to the users guide. Starship's nose cone would open like a clamshell to deploy payloads. "The cargo version can also be used for rapid point-to-point Earth transport," SpaceX says.
- For crewed flights, Starship would be configured to carry up to 100 people into low Earth orbit, and then onward to the moon and Mars. "The crew configuration of Starship includes private cabins, large common areas, centralized storage, solar storm shelters and a viewing gallery," the users guide says. If SpaceX sticks to its schedule, Starship could start carrying crews by the mid-2020s.
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