To date, the Saturn V rocket developed by Wernher von Braun (1912-1977) for NASA was the largest and most powerful launch system for spaceflight: its height is 111 meters – about 20 meters higher than the Statue of Liberty in New. York. The fully refueled and loaded Saturn 5, developed for the Apollo lunar missions, weighed 3,000 tons.
As of this week, the Saturn V is no longer topping the record list. The American space company SpaceX has assembled the longest rocket ever. For the first time, the Starship was installed on the super heavy booster. At 120 meters high, the Starship towers over Saturn 5 by nine meters.
At the Boca Chica development center in South Texas, SpaceX demonstrated for the first time what a rocket would look like with a Starship on top. Starship is the name of both the large SpaceX rocket project and the upper class, which will also serve as a spaceship. The spaceship is equipped with 29 Raptor engines, and it is mounted on a very heavy booster.
Musk: “The dream has come true”
SpaceX chief Elon Musk (50) is elated. “Fully layered spaceship,” Musk cheers on Twitter — and features photos of this engineering feat.
Musk talks about “a dream come true” — even if “stacking,” the stacking on top of each other from the Starship and Super Heavy, never made it to its first test flight.
The components are separated again. Once the desired system is developed, the components are tested together during an initial orbital flight. SpaceX plans to put more milestones in the development of the system this year. (bag)
“Tv expert. Hardcore creator. Extreme music fan. Lifelong twitter geek. Certified travel enthusiast. Baconaholic. Pop culture nerd. Reader. Freelance student.”
More Stories
D-AIXT: This is what Lufthansa's first Airbus A350 with the Allegris cabin looks like
USA: It is clear that the economy is losing momentum at the beginning of the year
Chocolate storm in Türkiye – the Swiss are confused