SpaceX's Starship rocket successfully launched to space for the first time on Thursday, marking a significant milestone in the company's technological advancements. The Starship-Super Heavy system is now the tallest and most powerful rocket ever constructed, surpassing even NASA's Space Launch System and the Saturn V rocket that took astronauts to the moon.
Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, envisions using the Starship to establish a human colony on Mars and support NASA's missions to the moon. The rocket system consists of two stages: the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy launch booster. The Starship itself stands at 164 feet tall with a diameter of 29.5 feet, while the Super Heavy booster measures 226 feet in height.
Together, the Starship-Super Heavy system has a liftoff mass of 11 million pounds, making it a formidable vehicle for space exploration. The reusable Super Heavy booster is designed to propel the Starship into orbit before returning to Earth for future launches.
SpaceX's successful test flight on Thursday brings the company closer to achieving its goal of establishing a human presence on Mars. Musk has suggested that it would take 1,000 Starship rockets to create a sustainable base on the red planet.
The Starship-Super Heavy system features a total of 39 engines, with the Super Heavy booster powered by 33 Raptor engines and the Starship spacecraft equipped with three Raptor engines and three Raptor Vacuum engines for space travel.
Standing at a towering height of 394 feet when stacked together, the Starship and Super Heavy rocket surpass iconic landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the Saturn V rocket. The successful flight of the mega-rocket to space signifies just the beginning of SpaceX's ambitious plans for interplanetary exploration.
