Dateline: April 20 2029
On this day six years ago, SpaceX Starship No 24 made its first orbital launch attempt. At the time there was great excitement for the world’s biggest rocket, and the new era of superheavy launch vehicles and space exploration that was just beginning.
But it was more than just a spectacle, as the gleaming giant rocket blasted off into the morning sky. Few people not connected to the aerospace industry realised how profound that moment was. Starship was the first, fully reusable spacecraft capable of carrying 150 tonnes to orbit, and beyond. Space had been conquered, the way aircraft conquered the skies. Space had just got its first jetliner, and Starship was the Jumbo Jet of spacecraft.
Since then, SpaceX has been building Starships at a furious pace at its two Starfactories in Texas and Florida. Dozens have been retired, as the technology improved, and many more deployed as orbital fuel tankers and lunar transit vehicles, never to return to Earth. Others ply the upper stratosphere between continents, carrying urgent cargo from New York to Shanghai in an hour or so.
Now Starship 420 is on the launch pad, and this one is special. It’s fully crewed and going to Mars. Robots and autonomous oxygen and fuel factories have been preparing the base for months, and it’s time for a visit. We’ve all seen the spacecam videos and read NASA and SpaceX Mars blogs, but no-one knows for sure just how this mission will pan out.
What we do know is that, just like the launch of Ship No 24, excitement is guaranteed.
- First published on Mindbullets April 20 2023
SpaceX reinvents airfreight
Starlifters will ship your cargo from Shanghai to New York in 60 minutes
Dateline: April 23 2028
You can’t blame Elon Musk for having a big fat grin on his face. He’s taken on the aviation and shipping giants, such as Boeing, FedEx and DHL, and he’s winning. But instead of using Jumbo Jets, he’s got a fleet of Starships.
As the pioneer of reusable orbital rockets, SpaceX has been launching satellites and sending cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station for years; but some people were still surprised when NASA chose SpaceX to ferry their crews to the Moon and back, even before the first successful landing of the new Starship prototype.
Since then, the gigantic stainless-steel Starships have become a familiar sight, launching from and landing back on their converted oil rig platforms, conveniently moored close (but not too close) to strategic launch sites and coastal cities.
But it was the mass production of a fleet of Starlifters — dedicated cargo-carrying Starships — that has disrupted the decades old airfreight business. With a payload of more than 100 tonnes, and costing a fraction of the price of a 747, a Starlifter can deliver a full load on a semi-orbital flight from Shanghai to New York in under an hour. And because they only burn fuel for launch and landing, these rocket ships use less than a jetliner.
More importantly, because they launch and land vertically, Starlifters don’t need runways or airports, and don’t need to compete with other air traffic. They’ve got their own dedicated “spaceports” and unique flight paths. That brings a whole new level of efficiency — and cost reduction — to their operation. Just think of the fuel wasted by a traditional cargo plane, while it’s waiting for a landing slot.
Oh, and no pilots either. Computers and engineers do all the heavy lifting, and they’ve reinvented the airfreight industry.
- First published on Mindbullets 22 April 2021
• Despite appearances to the contrary, Futureworld cannot and does not predict the future. The Mindbullets scenarios are fictitious and designed purely to explore possible futures, and challenge and stimulate strategic thinking.
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