Elon Musk Tours SpaceX Starfactory Rocket Site
- BY Dhiren
- June 24, 2024
- Read in 2 Minutes
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has given Daily Astronaut YouTuber Tim Dodd a comprehensive tour of the Starfactory in Boca Chica, Texas.
The hour-long movie was shot the day before the Starship Megarocket’s fourth test flight earlier this month. It takes viewers inside the facility where technicians are fabricating the different rocket components and assembling the aircraft itself.
Musk stated that the new plant, sections of which are still under construction, will produce up to 100 Starship ships each year, with the ultimate objective of creating a thousand.
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To achieve that goal, we would need more production facilities.
Elon Musk Tours SpaceX Starfactory Rocket Site to visitors, including a room full of the powerful Raptor engines. These engines power the Super Heavy launcher that launches the Starship spaceship into orbit.
The SpaceX CEO discusses how the next-generation Raptor engine will operate without a heat shield. Musk added that the engine’s components require inbuilt cooling circuits for exposure, making it look simple on the outside but complicated on the inside.
He also discussed rocket reusability, which is fundamental to the SpaceX system. He aims to create a fully reusable rocket that can land and quickly fly again in both its first and second stages, similar to a huge aircraft.
SpaceX has successfully reused the first stage of their Falcon 9 rocket by returning it to Earth and landing it upright shortly after launch, but retrieving the second stage from orbit is a completely other difficulty.
For the Starship to be practical, SpaceX must be able to land the first-stage Super Heavy rocket.
It must also securely land the Starship at its destination—whether it’s the moon, Mars, or somewhere else—as it will be carrying passengers and cargo. Finally, it must be able to securely carry the Starship home.
SpaceX is spending heavily on the SpaceX Starfactory as it looks to expand its Starship system ahead of crew and cargo trips to the moon.
Engineers need to do much testing before the Starship flies for its fifth time, scheduled as early as next month.
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