How does the Starship explosion affect the moon?

The Starship spacecraft on the upper floor of the missile of the same name SpaceX rotates without control when taking off from Texas on March 6. The vehicle lost contact with the control team on the ground, fell from the air and exploded, interrupting the operation of some airports in South Florida. This is the second consecutive flight Starship exploded when flying high, can mark a big step back. With every Starship test flight, the entire space industry is closely monitored. The exploitation of resources on the Moon is attracting a lot of attention and the space experts say that this activity requires a fully operating Starship missile, according to Business Insider.

Leroy Chiao, former NASA astronaut, has advised SpaceX for 12 years, describing Starship as “the most interesting thing” from the Apollo period and building an international space station (ISS). Eric Berger, author of two books about SpaceX, also said. According to him, this is a large version of the reusable missile that can carry people to the moon and a really bold design.

Although the moon is not Elon Musk’s favorite destination with Starship, this may be the biggest business goal of this missile. It is because it is designed to transport super heavy equipment to the moon, land on the natural surface and launch back to Earth.

Above all, both floors of the missile can be reused, helping to sharpen the cost of space flight, according to Brendan Rosseau, the graduate student teaches at Harvard Business School now works for SpaceX’s Blue Origin rival. The ability to push super heavy goods with low cost is what many companies need to implement the plan to conquer the moon through tourism and mining, for example, the two companies in Texas have brought the spacecraft to the moon recently. Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost mission landed on the moon on March 2, full of experiments to check the surface and moon. Intuitive Machines landed on the moon for the second time on March 6. The company’s Athena amphibious ship carries a mobile network and drilling experiments.

Both tasks are aimed at checking the key technology to mining on the moon, although Athena is bulky to one side, does not collect enough sunlight and end the mission early. To exploit water and minerals on the Moon, companies need to transport heavy equipment such as machines, according to Steve Altemus, Intuitive Machines CEO. “You will need to bring larger volume to the moon to maintain the sustainable existence of people here. There are many factors that need to ensure that people can live for a long time on the moon,” Altemus Said.

Starship can carry 110 tons of cargo to the moon, according to the President and Finance Director of SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell. That figure is 15 times larger than James Webb spatial glasses and is equal to 1/4 of ISS station. Compared to it, the Saturn V rocket launched in Apollo missions that only carry 50 tons of goods.

SpaceX will need to prove that Starship can complete what the company promises. Up to now, this launch system has flew into the space several times. The Super Heavy booster returns to the Earth intact, recovered by pair of chopsticks on the launch tower. Starship once flew back from the space and landed in the ocean. Landing on the ground is a key step in the development of the vehicle. That is how SpaceX recycled the Starship launch system in the future.

NASA plans to let Starship carry a pilot to the moon in 2027. In September last year, Musk shared that Starship could make the first flight flight to Mars in 4 years. Both NASA and SpaceX have put the timeline that is too optimistic for the target and many times have to move schedules. “We don’t know where Starship will go. Maybe it will never reuse it completely. Maybe they will never succeed in quick reuse of the upper floor,” Berger said.