SpaceX Starship development: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:11, 24 January 2019

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Beginning in mid-2013, SpaceX referred to both the architecture and the vehicle as the Mars Colonial Transporter.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveschaefer/2013/06/06/with-tesla-and-solarcity-soaring-elon-musk-talks-down-spacex-ipo-plans/ | title=SpaceX IPO Cleared For Launch? Elon Musk Says Hold Your Horses | author=Steve Schaefer | work=Forbes | date=6 June 2013}}</ref> By the time the large 12-meter diameter design was unveiled in September 2016, SpaceX had already begun referring to the overall system as the [[Interplanetary Transport System]] and the launch vehicle itself as the [[ITS launch vehicle]].

With the announcement of a new 9-meter design in September 2017, SpaceX resumed using the name "BFR".<ref name="sn20170929"/><ref name="sfn20170929">{{cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/09/29/elon-musk-revises-mars-plan-hopes-for-boots-on-ground-in-2024/|title=Elon Musk revises Mars plan, hopes for boots on ground in 2024|author=William Harwood|date=29 September 2017|work=SpaceflightNow|accessdate=30 September 2017|quote=The new rocket is still known as the BFR, a euphemism for 'Big (fill-in-the-blank) Rocket.' The reusable BFR will use 31 Raptor engines burning densified, or super-cooled, liquid methane and liquid oxygen to lift 150 tons, or 300,000 pounds, to low Earth orbit, roughly equivalent to NASA’s Saturn 5 moon rocket.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.spacex.com/media-gallery/detail/149426/9376 | title=Artist's Rendering Of The BFR | publisher=SpaceX | date=12 April 2017 | accessdate=3 October 2017 | language=en}}</ref> Musk said in the announcement "we are searching for the right name, but the code name, at least, is BFR."<ref name="musk20170929"/> SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell subsequently stated that BFR stands for "Big Falcon Rocket".<ref name="Acronym Explained">{{cite web | author=Mike Wall | title=What's in a Name? SpaceX's 'BFR' Mars Rocket Acronym Explained | url=https://www.space.com/38393-spacex-bfr-mars-colony-rocket-name.html | website=space.com | accessdate=11 February 2018}}</ref> However, Elon Musk has explained in the past that although BFR is the official name, he drew inspiration from the [[BFG (weapon)|BFG]] weapon in the [[Doom (franchise)|''Doom'']] video games.<ref name="gq-elon-interview">{{cite web|last1=Heath|first1=Chris|title=Elon Musk Is Ready to Conquer Mars|url=https://www.gq.com/story/elon-musk-mars-spacex-tesla-interview|website=GQ|accessdate=14 February 2018|language=en|date=12 December 2015}}</ref> The BFR has also occasionally been referred to informally by the media and internally at SpaceX as "Big F***ingFucking Rocket".<ref name="RocketBillionaires">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=9YosDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA244|title=Rocket Billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the New Space Race|last=Fernholz|first=Tim|date=20 March 2018|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-1328662231|___location=Boston|page=244|quote=SpaceX would build a huge rocket: the BFR, or Big Falcon Rocket—or, more crudely among staff, the Big Fucking Rocket|author-link=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Slezak |first1=Michael |last2=Solon |first2=Olivia |date=29 September 2017 |title=Elon Musk: SpaceX can colonise Mars and build moon base |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/29/elon-musk-spacex-can-colonise-mars-and-build-base-on-oon |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |___location=London |access-date=21 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Burgess |first=Matt |date=29 September 2017 |title=Elon Musk's Big Fucking Rocket to Mars is his most ambitious yet |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/elon-musk-bfr-big-rocket-earth-mars-spacex |magazine=[[Wired UK]] |___location=London |publisher=[[Condé Nast Publications]] |access-date=21 May 2018}}</ref> The upper stage is also the spaceship, or for a time in 2017–18 was referred to as "BFS".<ref group="NB"> Big Falcon Spaceship </ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/feb/08/spacewatch-tourists-wait-spacex-bigger-rocket Space tourists will have to wait as SpaceX plans bigger rocket]. Stu Clark, ''The Guardian''. 8 February 2018.</ref><ref name="68IAC-trans"/><ref>[http://www.catchnews.com/science-news/spacex-signs-its-first-passenger-to-fly-aboard-the-big-falcon-rocket-moon-mission-132574.html SpaceX signs its first passenger to fly aboard the Big Falcon Rocket Moon mission]. CatchNews. 14 September 2018.</ref> The booster first stage has also been referred to as the "BFB".<ref group="NB"> Big Falcon Booster </ref><ref name="BI-2018-12-24"> {{cite news |url= https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-big-falcon-rocket-spaceship-hopper-vehicle-launches-2018-12 |title= Elon Musk: SpaceX to launch a Starship spaceship prototype this spring |author= Dave Mosher |date= 24 December 2018 |publisher= Business Insider }} </ref><ref name="NHReg-2018-11-19"> {{cite news |url= https://www.nhregister.com/technology/businessinsider/article/NASA-will-retire-its-new-mega-rocket-if-SpaceX-or-13401618.php |title= NASA 'will eventually retire' its new mega-rocket if SpaceX, Blue Origin can safely launch their own powerful rockets |author= Dave Mosher |date= 19 November 2018 |publisher= New Haven Register }} </ref><ref name="SiliconUK-2018-12-28"> {{cite news |url= https://www.silicon.co.uk/workspace/spacex-starts-construction-of-mars-rocket-prototype-240005 |title= SpaceX Starts Construction Of Mars Rocket Prototype |author= Matthew Broersma |date= 28 December 2018 |publisher= Silicon.co.uk }} </ref> In November 2018, the spaceship was renamed '''''Starship''''', and the first stage booster was named '''Super Heavy'''.<ref name=gw20181119/><ref name="engadget20181120">{{cite news |last1=Lawler |first1=Richard |title=SpaceX BFR has a new name: Starship |url=https://www.engadget.com/2018/11/20/starship-bfr-spacex/ |accessdate=21 November 2018 |work=Engadget |date=20 November 2018}}</ref>

Notably, in the fashion of SpaceX, even that term ''super heavy'' had been previously used by SpaceX in a different context. In February 2018, at about the time of the first [[Falcon Heavy]] launch, Musk "suggested the possibility of a Falcon Super Heavy—a Falcon Heavy with extra boosters. 'We could really dial it up to as much performance as anyone could ever want. If we wanted to we could actually add two more side boosters and make it Falcon Super Heavy.'"<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/5/16975850/spacex-falcon-heavy-launch-elon-musk-tesla-questions | title=Here are four things we learned from Elon Musk before the first Falcon Heavy launch| date=2018-02-05}}</ref>