SpaceX Super Heavy Starship has Breakthrough Design Improvements

Elon Musk has Tweeted some of the details of the breakthrough changes to the SpaceX Super Heavy Starship.

The overall shape of the SpaceX Super Heavy Starship are about the same. However, there are fundamental materials change to airframe, tanks and heatshield.

@elonmusk Elon, how long until we can have more tech details about the bfs design changes? Some of us rocket nerds are dying to know anything! Thanks!

— Malcolm Head (@Malcolmmarsman) November 25, 2018

Contour remains approx same, but fundamental materials change to airframe, tanks & heatshield

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2018

At the September, 2018 discussion of the previous design of the SpaceX Super Heavy Starship (aka BFR) the craft would mostly land using its shape and heatshield. Design improvements to the airframe, tanks and heatshield would be critical for successfully mostly unpowered re-entry.

The better the unpowered part of re-entry works then the more efficient the whole launch will be and the more reusable the craft will be. A perfected re-entry with no damage for reuse would get this closer to airplane like reusability.

Full airplane like reusability with zero maintenance between launches gets toward the goal of multiple launches per day.

Gwynn Shotwell COO of SpaceX has said the airplane like use of SpaceX Super Heavy Starship (aka BFR) is definitely going to happen. She said in her TED interview that the SpaceX Super Heavy Starship will takeoff and land ten times per day.

Displacing aviation with hypersonic (mach 25) travel would be worth over $15 trillion.

Brian Wang

Brian Wang is a prolific business-oriented writer of emerging and disruptive technologies. He is known for insightful articles that combine business and technical analysis that catches the attention of the general public and is also useful for those in the industries. He is the sole author and writer of nextbigfuture.com, the top online science blog. He is also involved in angel investing and raising funds for breakthrough technology startup companies.

He gave the recent keynote presentation at Monte Jade event with a talk entitled the Future for You.  He gave an annual update on molecular nanotechnology at Singularity University on nanotechnology, gave a TEDX talk on energy, and advises USC ASTE 527 (advanced space projects program). He has been interviewed for radio, professional organizations. podcasts and corporate events. He was recently interviewed by the radio program Steel on Steel on satellites and high altitude balloons that will track all movement in many parts of the USA.

He fundraises for various high impact technology companies and has worked in computer technology, insurance, healthcare and with corporate finance.

He has substantial familiarity with a broad range of breakthrough technologies like age reversal and antiaging, quantum computers, artificial intelligence, ocean tech,  agtech, nuclear fission, advanced nuclear fission, space propulsion, satellites, imaging, molecular nanotechnology, biotechnology, medicine, blockchain, crypto and many other areas.