SpaceX · Starship

Starship: the rocket that comes back home

Tap the to meet each part. Then scroll to launch it: you control time.

Phase 01 · Ignition

33 engines light at once

The Super Heavy booster carries 33 Raptor engines that burn methane and liquid oxygen. Together they push harder than any rocket that has ever flown.

FACTAbout 8,200 metric tons of thrust at liftoff, in the current version (Block 3). ↗

Phase 02 · Liftoff

124 meters of stainless steel

Most rockets are made of aluminum, and SpaceX planned to build this one from carbon fiber. In 2018 it chose steel: it is cheap, easy to weld, gets stronger in the extreme cold of the propellant and handles heat better.

FACTTaller than the Statue of Liberty with its pedestal (93 m, 305 ft). ↗

Phase 03 · Hot staging

The ship fires before letting go

Instead of shutting everything down and then separating, the ship lights its engines while still attached to the booster. A vented ring lets the fire escape. That way no speed is lost in the handoff.

FACTIt debuted on the second test flight, in November 2023. ↗

Phase 04 · Return

The booster turns around

Free of the ship, Super Heavy flips, lights some engines to brake and reverses course toward the tower. Its grid fins, three in the current version, steer it through the air like rudders.

FACTMeanwhile, the ship continues its journey to space.

Phase 05 · Catch

The tower catches it in midair

No landing legs: the tower’s arms, nicknamed chopsticks, grab the booster as it hovers on its engines. Less weight on the rocket, more payload.

FACTFirst catch: October 13, 2024, Flight 5. Flights 7 and 8 followed. ↗

Part · Super Heavy

33 Raptor engines

They burn methane and liquid oxygen. They use full-flow staged combustion: all the fuel and all the oxygen pass through the turbines that drive the pumps, with nothing thrown overboard, and then burn together in the main chamber.

FACTIt is the third engine in history designed with this cycle and the first to power a vehicle in flight. ↗

Part · Structure

Welded steel rings

Both stages are built by stacking and welding stainless steel cylinders 9 m across and 1.83 m tall. In December 2018 SpaceX swapped carbon materials for steel: it is cheaper, easier to make, stronger in the cold of the propellant and handles heat better.

FACTEach wall is 3.97 mm thick. ↗

Part · Super Heavy

Grid fins

Three grid fins, moved by electric motors, steer the booster as it comes back through the air. Two of them have reinforced hardpoints: that is where it is lifted onto the pad and where the tower holds it when catching it.

FACTOn Block 3 there are three (there used to be four), placed 90°, 90° and 180° apart. ↗

Part · Starship

Heat shield

The side that hits the air on the way back is covered by about 18,000 black hexagonal tiles made from silica. They are pinned in place with small gaps so the heat can expand them without cracking.

FACTThey withstand about 1,400 °C (2,550 °F). ↗

Part · Starship

Four flaps

Two at the front and two at the back. During the belly flop they move like a skydiver’s arms and legs to control orientation. According to SpaceX, they replace wings and a tail, and make it possible to land where there is no runway, like on Mars.

FACTTheir hinges are sealed inside covers so reentry heat doesn’t damage them. ↗

Part · Starship

The satellite slot

Through this door the ship releases Starlink satellites one by one. Because of the way it works it is called the “PEZ dispenser”, like the candy ones. The ship carries six Raptors: three for the atmosphere and three optimized for vacuum.

FACTOn Flight 14 (September 28, 2026), the first to reach orbit, it deployed 26 operational Starlink V3 satellites. ↗

Part · Tower

The tower’s “chopsticks”

Two moving arms ride up and down the tower. They lift the stages to stack them on the pad and catch the booster in midair when it comes back, with no landing legs.

FACTFirst catch: October 13, 2024. Booster B14, caught on Flight 7, flew again on Flight 9. ↗

Every links to the source of the fact. Reviewed in October 2026.

TELEMETRYSUPER HEAVY

TT−00:08

ALT0.0 km

VEL0 km/h

ON THE PAD

ILLUSTRATIVE SIMULATION

Why it matters

A reusable rocket changes everything.

Imagine throwing an airplane away after every flight. That is what happened with rockets. If a rocket can be reused like an airplane, the cost of reaching space drops dramatically, and that is when things like a city on Mars start to become possible.

Vision · Status

A rocket you use like an airplane

The goal: both stages come back, get refueled and take off again within hours. Here is where each piece stands:

Reaching orbitAchieved
Catching the booster with the towerAchieved
Reflying a used boosterAchieved
Catching the ship with the towerTesting
Transferring propellant between ships in orbitIn development
Reusing the whole rocket within hoursConcept

Approximate status as of October 2026; things may have moved on. Source: Wikipedia, list of Starship launches. ↗

Next: Mars, the grand finale