SpaceX Will Build Super Heavy Booster In Texas

SpaceX has finally confirmed its mammoth Super Heavy first-stage booster will be built and tested at its South Texas Launch Site under construction at Boca Chica Village near Brownsville, Texas.

The company said construction of the first Super Heavy booster will begin in the next few months with April being mentioned as the earliest date. CEO Elon Musk first hinted that Super Heavy construction might begin in April.

In a statement, SpaceX said fabricators will work to build the primary airframe of the Starship and Super Heavy vehicles at the South Texas build site. These fabricators “will work with an elite team of other fabricators and technicians to rapidly build the tank (cylindrical structure), tank bulkheads, and other large associated structures for the flight article design of both vehicles.”

SpaceX clarified the development of Starship and the Raptor rocket engine is being conducted at its headquarters in Hawthorne, California. It said it will build the Starship prototypes at its launch site in Texas as Starship’s size makes it very difficult to transport.

Super Heavy is the name of the first stage booster that will hurl Starship into space. This massive, next-generation launch vehicle stands 63 meters long and is 9 meters in diameter. It will be powered by 31 Raptor rocket engines generating 61.8 Newton meters (13,900,000 lbf) total liftoff thrust. Super Heavy will also be capable of recovery and re-use.

Starship refers to the second stage launch vehicle with an integrated payload section. It can carry either a human crew or cargo. Powered by six Raptor engines, Starship will have the ability to operate as a crewed spacecraft on flights both in, and Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO). This means flights to the Moon, Mars, asteroids and elsewhere.

SpaceX also shared updated specs of Starship/Super Heavy, which it described as a “beast of a launch vehicle.” Starship/Super Heavy will require wholly new methods of production and assembly because of its sheer scale and the extensive integration of stainless steel alloys into its design.

The complete vehicle weighs some 4.5 million kilograms fully-fueled and will stand around 118 meters (387 feet) tall with both stages stacked together. Both Starship and Super Heavy will have a diameter of nine meters.

Super Heavy on its own might end-up 68 meters tall. On the other hand, Starship stands around 55 meters tall standing on its tripod fins. SpaceX warned, however, that all of these figures are liable to change.