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The future of space exploration involves both telescopic and physical explorations of space by robotic spacecraft and human spaceflight. Near-term physical exploration missions, focused on obtaining new information about the Solar System , are planned and announced by both national and private organisations.
When stacked and fully fueled, Starship has a mass of approximately 5,000 t (11,000,000 lb), [c] a diameter of 9 m (30 ft) [12] and a height of 121.3 m (398 ft). [13] The rocket has been designed with the goal of being fully reusable to reduce launch costs; [14] it consists of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage [15] which are powered by Raptor and Raptor Vacuum engines.
One possible future use of Starship that SpaceX has proposed is point-to-point flights (called "Earth to Earth" flights by SpaceX), traveling anywhere on Earth in under an hour. [65] In 2017 SpaceX president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell stated that point-to-point travel with passengers could become cost competitive with ...
The reusable technology was to have been extended to the 2016 designs of both the tanker and crewed spaceship upper stage variants as well as the first stage of the Interplanetary Transport System, [7] [6] [8] and is considered paramount to the plans Elon Musk is championing to enable the settlement of Mars.
A fusion rocket is a theoretical design for a rocket driven by fusion propulsion that could provide efficient and sustained acceleration in space without the need to carry a large fuel supply. The design requires fusion power technology beyond current capabilities, and much larger and more complex rockets.
In December 2018, the structural material was changed from carbon composites [86] [79] to stainless steel, [87] [88] marking the transition from early design concepts of the Starship. [ 87 ] [ 89 ] [ 90 ] Musk cited numerous reasons for the design change; low cost and ease of manufacture, increased strength of stainless steel at cryogenic ...
While the concept had been out since 2013 the design of IXS Enterprise was popularized in June 2014 after a series of media outlets reported on the conceptual artwork done by Dutch artist Mark Rademaker in collaboration with NASA. [1] According to Mark Rademaker, over 1,600 hours have been spent on the conceptual artwork that he created. [2]
Nautilus-X (Non-Atmospheric Universal Transport Intended for Lengthy United States Exploration) is a rotating wheel space station concept developed by engineers Mark Holderman and Edward Henderson of the Technology Applications Assessment Team of NASA.