Elon Musk plans massive expansion of Starship to prepare for Mars missions
- Starship is SpaceX’s largest rocket
- It stands 121 meters tall, and it is fully reusable
- The plan is to make 20 percent taller
Published on Apr 15, 2024 at 12:02 PM (UTC-4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Apr 16, 2024 at 11:18 AM (UTC-4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
When it comes to Mars exploration, Elon Musk is heavily banking on Starship, the newest and largest rocket made by SpaceX.
The thing is, Musk believes Starship is perhaps not big enough yet.
The plan is to make it larger, potentially by a significant margin, than it is now.
Musk recently said Starship will eventually be as tall as 500 feet – or 150 meters – and that would make it roughly 20 percent bigger than it is currently.
For reference, Starship currently stands 121 meters tall, which means it is not exactly small.
Moreoever – and this has always been one of SpaceX’s major selling points – the new Starship will be designed to be reusable, just like its predecessor.
With the new rocket, each launch will cost roughly $3 million.
Now, that is a lot of money in absolute terms, but it is a lot less than the cost per flight of the original Falcon 1, which was $9.5 million (adjusted for inflation), according to NBC.
Musk is involved in a lot of different things at the same time, from Tesla to the Boring Company’s Vegas Loop and AI, but it’s clear that these days, SpaceX is taking up most of his time, and most of his attention.
SpaceX teamed up with NASA for the Artemis mission, the one that’s going to (presumably? hopefully?) takes us back to the Moon again to set up a base over there.
Musk also once again reinstated he’s determined to make us a ‘multi-planetary’ species and said he’s working on a ‘game plan’ to take us to Mars.
Then again, he’s been saying that for the best part of 10 years at this point.
Still, he’s got enough money to make it happen, so we’ll just have to wait and see how it all goes.
Alessandro is an automotive journalist with 10 years of experience covering supercars, automotive history, emerging vehicle technology, and luxury transportation. He wrote the first article published on SupercarBlondie.com when the website launched in 2022 and has since built a reputation for insightful reporting across the automotive and transportation industries. His expertise is grounded in hands-on experience. Alessandro has driven every Tesla model ever produced, from the original Roadster to the Cybertruck, and regularly covers the latest developments in electric vehicles and automotive innovation. His passion for transportation extends beyond cars, he has even flown a Boeing 787 Dreamliner simulator in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His reporting spans everything from classic American muscle cars and rare automotive discoveries to luxury yachts, private aircraft, high-end watches, and cutting-edge vehicle technology. Known for his deep knowledge of automotive history and ability to uncover the stories behind iconic vehicles, Alessandro brings readers a blend of historical context, technical expertise, and first-hand experience.
