Why Is Spacex Starship Stainless Steel, Instead of Carbon Fiber?
-
Raven Ruma
- . April 20, 2023
- . Update: April 21, 2023 1:24 am
SpaceX is set to launch its Starship spacecraft for the second time, following the first scheduled launch being aborted due to a pressurization issue in the first-stage booster.
If successful, the spacecraft will be used to ferry astronauts to the Moon in 2025, marking the first time humans have traveled to the Moon since 1972.
Starship generates 17 million pounds of thrust, more than twice that of the Saturn V rockets used in the Apollo missions.
The plan is to make Starship reusable and bring down the price to a few million dollars per flight. In light of SpaceX’s efforts to create a reusable transportation system for transporting people, satellites, and cargo of considerable weight into space, the Starship interplanetary spaceship was designed.
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The plan is to use the reusable methalox staged-combustion engine, the Raptor, to help colonize Mars and explore beyond the final frontier.
NASA’s Artemis 3 mission will also utilize the Starship as its first crewed lunar lander, with a hopeful touchdown at the lunar south pole in 2025.
As with any design, the Starship’s hull material has undergone an evolution in its development. Initially, the plan was to make the hull out of carbon fiber, but due to cost and other benefits, it was later changed to stainless steel.
According to Elon Musk, carbon fiber is extremely expensive, costing up to $135 per kilogram, with 35% of the material being wasted during the cutting and shaping process.
As a result, SpaceX was actually spending closer to $200 per kilogram of carbon fiber material. In comparison, stainless steel is significantly cheaper, at only $3 per kilogram.
Stainless steel also possesses a higher melting point, making it a stronger and more resilient material for the heat generated during reentry.
Carbon fiber can only withstand steady-state operating temperatures of about 300 degrees Fahrenheit, with some forms going as high as 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Beyond that, it starts to deteriorate and weaken, whereas stainless steel can tolerate temperatures up to 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit.
Despite its odd appearance, the decision to use stainless steel was a clear choice for SpaceX, given its cost-effectiveness and durability.
The hull material may resemble Flash Gordon’s spaceship from the 1930s or a grain silo, but its effectiveness in enabling space travel and exploration is what matters most.
