This particular launch is nearly two-decades in the making. As early as 2005, Musk hinted at plans to build a giant rocket codenamed “BFR.”
Its power and size makes it a critical part of SpaceX’s future, with the capability of launching massive satellites and large crews of spacefarers.awarding SpaceX a $2.9 billion contractStarship is also designed to be fully reusable, unlike any rocket ever built before. SpaceX says that will make its operation relatively inexpensive.
SpaceX’s most powerful rocket in operation at the moment, the Falcon Heavy, can only carry 64 metric tons to orbit. At liftoff, 33 of SpaceX’s new methane-fueled Raptor engines are designed to ignite simultaneously, providing the immense power necessary to get such a heavy load out of Earth’s atmosphere.
There, it will sink to the ocean floor, with no plans for recovery. Testing Super Heavy’s reusability will come in later tests.