SpaceX’s reusable Starship
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The first orbital flight of SpaceX’s Starship – the most powerful rocket ever built – could come within months. NASA has picked the fully reusable Starship to return astronauts to the moon
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May 2021: SN15 (Serial No. 15) prototype makes six-minute flight, performs manoeuvres and lands safely

Heat shield: Starbrick thermal tiles protect craft as it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere at up to 1,650°C

Starship SN20: 45.7m tall

Liquid methane tank
Liquid oxygen tank

Engines: Three sea-level Raptor engines for atmospheric flight, three large vacuum- optimized Raptors for high performance in space

Super Heavy Booster 4:
69m tall, 9m wide. Assembled out of stainless steel rings

Booster: 29 sea-level Raptors, each generating 3,050 kilonewtons of thrust
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Sources: NASA, SpaceX, Space.com
Picture: SpaceX
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