First flight of world’s biggest rocket

The first orbital flight test of SpaceX’s fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy booster represents a key milestone in the company’s – and NASA’s – ambition to send humans back to the moon


STARSHIP

50m tall, 9m wide

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

Heat shield: Starbrick thermal tiles protect craft as it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere at up to 1,377°C


Liquid methane tank

Liquid oxygen tank

Human to scale
120m


FLIGHT TEST 
Around 90 minutes

Launch: Boca Chica, Texas

Starship splashdown: Around 100km northwest of Hawaii


SUPER HEAVY BOOSTER. 69m tall. 33 sea-level Raptors generate 72 meganewtons, almost double thrust of any previous rocket

Booster separates after 172 seconds and splashes down in Gulf of Mexico

Starship and Super Heavy both designed to be fully reusable on future missions


Sources: SpaceX, NASA, Space.com 
Pictures: SpaceX 
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