SpaceX’s Starship Exploding Isn’t A Problem
In fact, it is a step closer to Mars.
On April 20th, 2023, something incredible happened. Starship, a truly gargantuan rocket, launched for the first time. This very rocket is meant to unlock a new era of space travel, from setting up Mars colonies to Lunar exploration and even enabling private space flight for people like you and me. But sadly, Starship never reached orbit and exploded in a great ball of fire a few minutes into launch. This might sound like a failure, but in actuality, it is far from that.
Let’s quickly recap just how insane Starship actually is. It is a two-stage rocket, with Super Heavy being the first stage (also known as the booster) and Starship being the second stage (also known as the primary). Both of these stages can land back on Earth using retro-rockets, making Starship the world’s first fully reusable orbital vehicle. This will bring the cost of launch way down to around $10 million per launch, or only $66.66 per kg to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). For some sense of scale, the Space Shuttle, which was a partially reusable orbital vehicle, cost $60,000 per kg to LEO.
But it isn’t just the cost that makes Starship incredible; its size and payload are magnificent. When stacked — where both stages are joined together — and fully fueled, Starship weighs 5,000 tonnes and stands…
