Starship
Fully reusable super heavy-lift rocket designed for complete reusability, Moon bases, and Mars colonization.
Starship is a fully reusable, two-stage super heavy-lift launch vehicle currently under active development and orbital flight testing by SpaceX. Consisting of the Super Heavy first stage booster and the Starship spacecraft upper stage, it is the tallest, most powerful rocket ever flown in human history, generating over 16.7 million pounds of thrust from 33 methane-fueled full-flow staged combustion Raptor engines.
SpaceStats Reliability & Flight Record
Architecture Analysis & Development Story
Engineering DossierHistory & Development
Originally unveiled under early project names including MCT, BFR, and Starship, the vehicle was designed from inception to achieve 100% full reusability for both stages. Early suborbital atmospheric hops in Starbase, Texas demonstrated the signature 'belly-flop' aerodynamic descent and flip-to-vertical landing maneuvers. Integrated orbital flight tests began in 2023, rapidly advancing stage separation via hot-staging rings, controlled oceanic soft splashdowns, in-space propellant transfer demos, and launch tower 'chopstick' mechanical catch recoveries of the Super Heavy booster.
Operational Record & Mission Impact
Selected by NASA as the Human Landing System (HLS) for the Artemis III and Artemis IV missions to return humanity to the lunar surface. Starship integrated flight tests have successfully proven hot-staging, controlled Super Heavy tower catches, and orbital velocity insertion.
Key Engineering Innovations & Design Highlights
33 Raptor 3 engines on Super Heavy producing over 74 MN (16.7 million lbf) of thrust using subcooled liquid methane and liquid oxygen (Methalox).
Full-Flow Staged Combustion (FFSC) engine cycle, eliminating problematic dynamic shaft seals and achieving extreme combustion efficiency.
Stainless steel 304L/30X alloy airframe offering superior cryogenic ductility and high-temperature strength during atmospheric re-entry.
Mechazilla launch tower recovery system using giant robotic catch arms ('chopsticks') to catch both returning Super Heavy boosters and Starship upper stages mid-air without landing legs.
Technical & Propulsion Specifications
Operator: SpaceXVehicle Dimensions & Mass
- Overall Height
- 121.3 m
- Body Diameter
- 9 m
- Gross Lift-off Mass
- 5,000 t
- Stages Count
- 2
- Fairing Diameter
- 9 m
Super Heavy Booster
- Main Engines
- 33x Raptor 2 / Raptor 3
- Propellant
- Subcooled LOX / Liquid Methane (CH4)
- SL Thrust
- 73,500 kN
- Vacuum Isp
- 350s
- Dry Mass
- 200 t
- Recovery Mode
- Catch_Tower
Starship Spacecraft / Upper Stage
- Upper Engine
- 6x 3x Raptor Sea-Level + 3x Raptor Vacuum (RVac)
- LEO Capacity
- 150 t
- GTO Capacity
- 63 t
- TLI (Lunar)
- 50 t
- Cost per Launch
- $100,000,000
- LEO Price / kg
- ~$667 / kg
Launch Complexes & Spaceports Network
2 Active Launch PadsMilestone & Historic Missions
Key Flight AchievementsIntegrated Flight Test 1 (IFT-1)
Customer: SpaceX
First integrated flight test clearing the orbital launch pad and demonstrating stage clearance.
Integrated Flight Test 5 (IFT-5)
Customer: SpaceX
Historic first mid-air mechanical catch of the Super Heavy booster returning to the launch tower chopsticks.
High-Resolution Photo Gallery & Media
4 photos & renders of Starship with verified copyright credits
Full Starship & Super Heavy Stack
121-meter Starship and Super Heavy fully stacked on the Orbital Launch Mount at Starbase.
Super Heavy Booster Catch by Mechazilla
Super Heavy booster caught in mid-air by the Mechazilla chopstick arms during Flight 5 recovery.
Starship Integrated Flight Test 5 Liftoff
33 Raptor engines igniting producing 16.7 million pounds of thrust during Starship Flight 5.
Starbase Rocket Garden & Facility
Starship prototypes and production facilities against the South Texas sunset.
SpaceStats Launch Manifest & Database
1 mission records cataloged in database
| Flight / Mission | Orbit | Launch Date | Pad / Location | Booster / Landing | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Starship | Flight 14 Flight 14 | N/A | Sep 30, 2026 | Orbital Launch Pad 2 SpaceX Starbase, TX, USA | B1080 ASDS | TBD | Details → |