On Thursday evening, SpaceX showed off its Super Heavy Booster being put together for the first time.
The Super Heavy is the first stage of the company’s Starship, which will sit on top of the 230-foot (70m) high booster, which has a diameter of 30 feet (9m), and can hold 3400t of propellant, while power 72MN of thrust.
“The first stage, or booster, of our next-generation launch system has a gross liftoff mass of over 3 million kg and uses sub-cooled liquid methane and liquid oxygen (CH4/LOX) propellants. The booster will return to land at the launch site on its 6 legs,” explains SpaceX.
Elon Musk shared an image of the Super Heavy Booster today, check it out below:
First Super Heavy Booster pic.twitter.com/0K5QPsEbbt
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 18, 2021
We will need launch tower for that. Hook height for the lift is ~140 m & both booster & ship need to be stabilized at stage separation joint.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 18, 2021
Yes, Booster 1 is a production pathfinder, figuring out how to build & transport 70 meter tall stage. Booster 2 will fly.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 18, 2021
In the image below, you can see Starship will be the world’s largest rocket when complete, surpassing NASA’s SLS Block 2 Cargo:
When asked if SpaceX could host up a Starship prototype on top of the Super Heavy Booster to show off the complete stack Starship, Elon Musk replied, “We will need launch tower for that. Hook height for the lift is ~140 m & both booster & ship need to be stabilized at stage separation joint.”
You can watch SpaceX stacking the Super Heavy Booster below via YouTube channel NASASpaceflight, at the 1 hour and 21-minute mark below:
SpaceX is very close to testing its Starship SN11 prototype, which could happen this week. The company’s goal is to send Starship to orbit by July of this year. We still can’t wrap our head about this Super Heavy Booster landing by itself, but we know it’s going to happen.
