On January 9, 2023, the president of SpaceX said that the Starship orbiter, which can carry out manned deep space exploration and cargo missions in the future, is already undergoing final testing before launch. This is another major breakthrough in the field of manned deep space exploration after the development of commercial aerospace has entered the field of space launch and manned spacecraft, which has attracted widespread attention from the world.
Basic information of the project
In September 2016, SpaceX officially announced the Interstellar Transportation System (ITS), aiming at human colonization of Mars and interstellar exploration. Subsequently, it continued to iterate rapidly, and a certain degree of scheme adjustment was made every year, from the initial interstellar transportation system scheme to the Falcon rocket (BFR) scheme in 2017, and finally gradually evolved into the super-heavy-starship transport system.
Raptor engines
The super-heavy Starship transport system consists of the Starship orbiter stage and the super-heavy rocket stage, using a stainless steel rocket body, and powered by a self-developed Raptor engine, both the orbiter stage and the rocket stage will return to the ground and be fully reusable. The super-heavy rocket stage can be recovered a few minutes after launch and is eligible for another launch within 1 hour. The Starship Orbiter class can achieve the goal of reaching Mars through orbital refueling (mainly oxygenation). Heat shields for thermal re-entry protection are durable, low-cost, and reusable.
As the development process progresses, the dimensions and performance parameters of the Starship Orbiter and Super Heavy Rocket stages have been changing. The Starship Orbiter class has a height of 50 meters, a diameter of 9 meters, a propellant load of 1,200 tons, a thrust of 1,500 tons, and a payload capacity of about 100~150 tons, depending on the orbital altitude. The Starship Orbiter stage is equipped with six Raptor engines, which may be increased to nine in the future, three of which are designed for ground thrust reversers and six for vacuum. The height of the super-heavy rocket stage is 69 meters, the diameter is 9 meters, the propellant loading capacity is 3400 tons, and it may be increased to 3600~3800 tons in the future, and the thrust is 7590 tons. The original super-heavy rocket stage had 29 Raptor engines, and in the future it will be equipped with 33.
Both stages of the superweight-starship transport system are powered by a self-developed Raptor engine, which uses a full-flow staged combustion cycle, liquid oxygen methane propellant, and twin pumps and two pre-combustion chambers. The fuel pump is driven by the rich combustion pre-combustion chamber, the liquid oxygen pump is driven by the oxygen-rich pre-combustion chamber, and the SX500 series alloy is developed to withstand the high temperature gas of the oxygen-rich pre-combustion chamber. The engine has the characteristics of large thrust, high specific impulse, long life and strong reusability. The shape material is made of stainless steel similar to 304L, which has stronger ductility and toughness at low temperatures, and has a better usable strength and mass ratio at high temperatures during re-entry. The system is a fully reusable launch vehicle, in which the Starship spacecraft class uses a new recovery scheme, "lying" into the atmosphere with an attitude of 60° inclination and an ultra-high speed of 25 times the speed of sound, maximizing the use of air braking.
R&D progress
In January 2020, Musk mentioned the idea of 1,000 starships for the first time when talking about Mars' colonization ambitions, so as to achieve the ability to put 100 million tons of payloads into orbit every year.
On August 6, 2021, the starship was merged for the first time, and on February 9, March 18, and October 12, 2022, the starship was combined three times.
On August 9, 2022, Starship SN24 completed its first static ignition test, testing the static ignition of 2 Raptor engines.
On September 8, 2022, Starship SN24 completed the second static ignition test, successfully completed the static ignition of 6 Raptor engines, with an ignition time of 8 seconds and a maximum thrust of 1,380 tons, which has the basis for flight testing.
On October 12, 2022, Starship SN24 and booster B7 completed the merger for the first time, and completed the first assembly test of the combination.
On January 9, 2023, Starship SN24 and booster B7 completed their merger again, and carried out propellant refueling tests to begin the final test before launch.
On April 20, 2023, Starship SN24 was launched for the first time. The rocket successfully took off, but 3 minutes later, when the rocket rose to an altitude of 36 kilometers, it exploded out of control and failed to enter orbit.
Impact analysis
Seize the commercial space launch market. After the Falcon 9 rocket of the US company SpaceX was put into operation, its annual launch times have gradually increased, from 31 in 2021 to 61 in 2022, basically occupying the commercial space launch market. Once the Starship launch project is put into use, its space launch cost will continue to be reduced, further strengthening its position as the main player in the world's commercial space launch market. If countries that rely mainly on government investment cannot obtain commercial space launch orders, on the one hand, the total number of space launches will be insufficient, and large-scale and mass production will not be able to achieve the purpose of reducing costs, and on the other hand, R&D investment funds will not be able to pass through the market in Texas
On November 18, 2023, the Star Arrow was launched during its second test flight in Boca Chica, Texas
Enhance the U.S. military's global projection capability. Although the Starship project was developed by the private company SpaceX in the United States, the company's project has always attracted the attention of the US military. The Falcon 9 rocket developed by the company has passed the military certification, breaking the long-standing monopoly of the "Unified Launch Alliance" company on military space launches, and reducing the cost of deploying space-based forces of the US military into space by half. Once the development of the starship carrier project is successful, combined with its reusable characteristics, it will form a low-cost, large-capacity, and high-frequency carrying capacity, which is expected to be used as a point-to-point transportation vehicle on the earth, providing the US military with a new means of logistics and supply for delivering 100-ton materials through space within one hour.
Weaken the influence of competitors in the space field. Since the crash of the Columbia Space Shuttle in 2001, the development of the United States' manned space industry has fallen into a trough. The goal of developing a manned space flight in the United States has oscillated between "returning to the moon" and "landing on Mars" as the government fights over bipartisan politics. However, NASA has been providing funding and technical support for the Starship launch project, which it sees as a vehicle for the Artemis program. Once the United States takes the lead in returning to the moon, the sensational effect of the great power rivals achieving a manned landing on the moon will be significantly reduced.
Increased threats to competitor space security. Once Musk's Starship is successful, the era of the United States to develop and use space has really arrived. Starship can launch 300 Starlink satellites at one time, and can also launch 300 miniature low-orbit military reconnaissance satellites, dozens of medium-orbit / The mass production trend of high-orbit large military remote sensing satellites, especially Starships, makes the launch and replenishment of these satellites very fast, Falcon 9 in reuse mode, LEO payload launch capacity of 18.5 tons, and Starship can reach 100 tons, can achieve the feat of shooting 300 stars with one arrow, Musk's boast of completing the deployment of 42,000 starlinks in 2027 is not impossible. Once the Starlink plan is successful, the US military will no longer need to dispatch additional communication support aircraft and relay aircraft to achieve global joint integrated operations when fighting in the future. The command headquarters located on the continental United States can seamlessly command the joint operations of manned and unmanned combat forces on the Pacific front, and its combat capability can be described as revolutionary. Once the United States turns the space station into a military base and turns it into a space combat satellite, it will be impossible for all existing air defense and anti-missile systems to respond to such a rapid weapon, and the existing defense lines of other countries will be difficult to resist, and the United States will pose an extremely serious threat to the national defense of its competitors. Once the militarization of space becomes a reality, strategic depth will no longer exist.
Reflections and suggestions
Continue to strengthen the tracking and monitoring of US starships. The Starship program was launched in response to the implementation of the U.S. "Return to the Moon" program, supported by NASA's "Commercial Spot Purchases" (COTs) program, and competed with NASA's space launch system (SLS), a vehicle being developed to return to the moon. If the development is successful, it remains to be seen whether it can be included in the procurement by the US government.
Musk said that 42,000 Starlink deployments can be completed in 2027
In-depth analysis of new technologies and concepts of starships. The U.S. company SpaceX continues to innovate in the field of space, mainly in research and development, adopting a series of new technologies and concepts, such as the introduction of repeatable concepts in launch vehicle launches. The development of the Starship project has also adopted many new technologies. For example, the use of multiple engines in parallel, its advantage is that the use of batch and a single failure will not cause the overall failure, but there are also defects, resulting in complex control system design and reduced structural rigidity. Another example is the use of stainless steel arrow body mechanism, although the unit mass is increased compared with aluminum alloy materials, but due to better heat resistance, the quality of heat protection materials is reduced, and the overall cost is reduced. We should learn from its development concept for innovation, step up the research and development and construction of reusable rocket thrusters such as starships, and promote the sound and rapid development of space forces.
Optimize and improve the theoretical system of space operations. Promoting the integration of technology and tactics and speeding up the innovation of operational theory is an important link in countering warfare and seizing superiority in the sky. It is necessary to strengthen the study of tactical application while studying the application of technology, strengthen the study of offensive and defensive tactics in space within the framework of integrated joint operations based on the network information system, pay close attention to the prominent characteristics of US starships, explore tactics and theories suitable for the combat application of new types of weapons and equipment, and give full play to the operational effectiveness of the weapons and equipment system.
Accelerate the implementation of a manned lunar landing. A manned landing on the moon has the potential to become an epoch-making project. To this end, it is necessary to pay close attention to the progress of the US "return to the moon" program, rationally assess the progress of its development, scientifically formulate a manned lunar landing program, and strive to become the first country to carry out a manned lunar landing in the new century before the United States, so that the impact and significance of the project will be more far-reaching.
Disclaimer: This article is transferred from Military Digest, the original authors are Wang Yuguang and Wen Xudong. The content of the article is the original author's personal point of view, and this official account is compiled/reprinted only to share and convey different views, if you have any objections, please contact us!
Transferred from丨Military Digest
Author丨Wang Yuguang, Wen Xudong
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