Saturday Notes Vol 6

You may have noticed, Starship blew up

If you Google “headlines for April 20, 2023” , you will need to dig to read about SpaceX’s Starship blowing up. India’s population passing China’s and the destructive power of tornadoes got more eyeballs and clicks. Of note, one of Elon Musk’s other companies, Tesla, saw its stock close 10% lower that same day. 

The team at SpaceX are ecstatic and many were brought to tears of joy as their rocket’s debris strewn over the Gulf of Mexico. There was a 50/50 chance that the massive, most complex vehicle every produced by man would blow up on the launch pad. The groundbreaking flight lasted three minutes, fifty-nine seconds and produced what they had hoped for - more data. 

Starship is a Major Upgrade 

Reusability: The Starship is designed to be fully reusable, meaning that it can be flown multiple times without needing significant refurbishment between flights. This is a big improvement over SpaceX's previous Falcon 9 rocket, which could be reused to a limited extent but still required significant maintenance and refurbishment after each flight.

Capacity: The Starship is much larger than the Falcon 9, with a payload capacity of up to 100 metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO). This makes it a more powerful rocket that can carry more cargo or passengers into space.

Interplanetary capability: The Starship is designed to be able to travel to other planets and moons in our solar system, including Mars. This is a major step forward in space exploration, as it opens up new possibilities for human exploration and settlement beyond Earth.

The Engines are Printed

The engines for SpaceX's Starship are printed using a technique called "additive manufacturing," which is also commonly known as 3D printing. The engines are called Raptor engines, are powered by methane, and liquid oxygen.

Additive manufacturing allows SpaceX to manufacture the complex engine components using fewer parts, which results in faster production times and reduced costs. It also enables SpaceX to optimize the engine design for improved performance and reliability.

The process of 3D printing the engine components involves building up layers of metal powder using a laser or electron beam, which fuses the powder particles together to form the desired shape. This process can produce intricate parts with high precision and consistency, which is particularly important for the high-performance and reliability requirements of rocket engines.

Costs

SpaceX has not disclosed the exact cost of the Starship program, but it is estimated to be in the billions of dollars. Elon has stated that the development and construction of the Starship is one of the company's most challenging and expensive projects.

The cost to launch a Starship will also depend on the mission and destination. For example, launching a Starship to low Earth orbit (LEO) may cost around $2 million, while a mission to the Moon or Mars may cost significantly more. SpaceX has stated that one of the goals of the Starship program is to reduce the cost of spaceflight, making it more accessible to a wider range of customers and missions.

It's worth noting that the cost of launching a payload on the Starship will likely be significantly lower than current launch prices for comparable missions, due to the Starship's full reusability and high capacity. SpaceX has stated that the Starship's ability to be reused multiple times will significantly reduce the cost of each launch, as well as make it more environmentally sustainable.

Propulsion system: The Starship uses advanced Raptor engines, which are designed to be more efficient and powerful than the Merlin engines used on the Falcon 9. This allows the Starship to generate more thrust and carry heavier payloads.

Fertile Ground

Our country continues to make step changes in humanity possible. Our rule of law, deep capital markets and skilled workforce set the table so visionary tinkerers like Edison, Henry Ford and Steve Job could create wonder, convenience, and value.

Now, here comes Starship to remind us that for all its challenges, polarization and noise, the United States is still a fantastical place. A place where a private company pushed their rocket to vapor only so they could teach their printer to print a better engine. Think about that. Not the space department of a government or consortium of governments. A private company whose engineers have been holed up in their desert research center for years, tinkering away. Edison, Ford, and Jobs are all looking down at with approval. Probably Hamilton and old Ben Franklin too.