SpaceX is building the first prototype of the giant Super Heavy rocket booster that will propel Starship to orbit at Starbase, located in Boca Chica Beach, Texas. The rocket will be the world’s most powerful rocket, equipped with 28 methane-fueled Raptor engines that will generate over 16 million pounds of thrust upon liftoff –that’s over twice the thrust of the Saturn V rocket that launched NASA’s Apollo missions to the lunar surface. SpaceX plans to ‘catch’ the Super Heavy rocket after it launches Starship to orbit. Catching the 230-foot-tall (70-meter) booster as it descends from space will enable fast reusability. “Starship booster, largest flying object ever designed, will be caught out of sky by launch tower. Big step forward, as reflight can be done in under an hour,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said on April 7. Using the launch tower to catch the rocket “saves mass and cost of legs… enables immediate repositioning of booster on to launch mount […],” he stated.
Quelle: SpaceX Is Building Starship’s Orbital Launch Tower Ahead Of Potential