Elon Musk has announced that his aerospace company, SpaceX, will build Moonbase Alpha to establish humanity’s first permanent human presence beyond Earth. SpaceX has specifically designed its Starship spacecraft for this purpose; it is intended to establish permanent human outposts on the Moon and other planets.
SpaceX has been chosen for NASA’s Artemis program and is tasked with landing the first astronauts on the Moon in over 50 years.
Starship capabilities
According to information shared by SpaceX, a single Starship has over 600 m³ of pressurised volume and dual airlocks. Its habitable volume is more than double the space that was available in the Apollo lunar lander, and it can land up to 100 tons of cargo.
SpaceX is self-funding more than 90 per cent of Starship's development, including production, testing, and launch infrastructure.
The company has already completed numerous test milestones for the Core Starship system, including:
- Multiple flight tests involving rocket launch, return, catch, and reuse.
- Propellant transfers in space and engine relight tests.
Additionally, the Human Landing System (HLS) team has completed 49 milestones, including life support system development, landing software, Raptor engine tests, and EVA elevator/airlock demonstrations.
Next steps and future missions
The next major steps involve a long-duration flight test and an on-orbit propellant transfer. Long-duration flight test will enable data gathering on vehicle propulsion and thermal behavior on an extended duration mission, including long duration propellant storage and boil-off characterisation.
In addition, on-orbit refueling capability is essential, as it enables Starship to complete the Artemis lunar mission architecture and carry up to 100 tons directly to the lunar surface. This capacity will allow Starship to transport the rovers, habitats, and other payloads needed to establish a permanent and sustainable presence on the Moon.
Starship V3 equipped with docking ports, DragonEye sensors, and enhanced on-orbit refueling capabilities.
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