The Starship rocket built by SpaceX is intended to enable humanity to travel interplanetarily. The Pentagon is also interested in it and wants to use NASA’s research program for its own purposes. According to the military, the large rocket will enable rapid transport around our planet.
Starship is the largest rocket in the world developed by SpaceX. It consists of two stages – a large booster called Super Heavy, on which the actual Starship module is placed. In the starting position, the set configured in this way is 120 meters high.
The first stage – Super Heavy – is approximately 70 meters high. With an empty weight of approximately 200 tons, it holds 3.6 thousand. tons of fuel in the form of liquid methane and liquid oxygen. They go to 33 Raptor engines.
The Super Heavy is also equipped with aerodynamic surfaces, allowing steering in the lower atmosphere, as well as valves, enabling steering in the upper atmosphere, where classic rudders are ineffective due to the very thin air. The controllability is needed because Super Heavy is a reusable module, recovered after a successful launch.
Starship module
On top of the Super Heavy module is the 50-meter Starship module, equipped with a total of six Raptor engines – three for operation in the atmosphere and three more for operation in the vacuum of space.
This set is to ensure the ability to place at least 100-ton payloads into orbit, and ultimately allow Earthlings to embark on a manned expedition to the neighboring planet – Mars.
For now, Starship has had two unsuccessful (although important for the development of the structure) tests in April and November 2023. Preparations for the third one are underway – according to Elon Musk’s new announcements, the launch may take place in February or early March.
Before this happens, however, the Pentagon, which cooperates with SpaceX, has found an idea for a different way of using the large rocket than initially planned.
Starship in ground transportation
We’re building a spacecraft to get to Mars, but we’ve discovered that we’re building a system that has a huge impact on national security. This applies to rocket flights between two points.
It’s about Starship’s potential to move quickly between different points on the planet. This idea goes beyond an internal SpaceX initiative – it attracted the attention of the Department of Defense and was discussed during a conference on space mobility organized by the US Space Force.
The practical implementation of the presented idea comes down – for now – to super-fast cargo delivery. Reaching any point on Earth with supplies, assuming launch from American territory, should take no more than an hour, and work on building an appropriate cargo bay is already underway.
Fighting for costs
An important issue here is the thread of global competition with China, whose development work on the Long March family of rockets has resulted in a radical drop in transport costs. In the case of the Długi March 5 rocket, the cost of carrying a kilogram of cargo into space is estimated at PLN 2.7 thousand. dollars, then the cost of the proposed Długi March 9 rocket will drop to $1,350. per kilogram.
Chinese pressure forces innovation. If the potential of Starship, which can be used on at least 100 missions during which it can transport at least 100 tons of cargo, can be exploited, America will gain a colossal advantage.
The cost of carrying a kilogram of cargo by Starship, currently estimated at $180, is ultimately – in the case of a mission within our planet – drop to just $18. The cost of rocket transport is thus expected to drop to the level offered by large transport aircraft (the originators cite the C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft), while ensuring much greater speed.
Program Rocket Cargo
The idea of rocket transport is not new. Two years ago, the Pentagon announced details of the Rocket Cargo program, which assumes the use of ballistic missiles as fast transporters. It is run by the DIU Defense Innovation Unit.
The use of missiles was to be justified, among others, by: in the event of a need to quickly deliver humanitarian aid or military supplies (ultimately also people), necessary in conditions of high-intensity conflict.
According to initial assumptions, the aim of the program was to create missile transport capabilities comparable to those of the C-17 aircraft (up to 82 tons of payload), and the use of existing civilian technologies was to ensure the lowest possible costs. Transport time was considered a key factor here, which – as it was assumed – should not exceed an hour to anywhere in the world.
The Rocket Cargo program assumes the development of not only the carrier (in this case the existing Starship), but also the infrastructure allowing for quick transport at the destination. sending the rocket on its way back.
Among the challenges that rocket transport users will face, safety is at the top of the list. This includes: about the possibility of ensuring safety for taking off and landing missiles and protecting them against possible countermeasures from the enemy.
Łukasz Michalik, journalist of Wirtualna Polska
2024-02-14 20:16:37
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