--- title: "Elon Musk Shows Off Photo of SpaceX’s First Starship Super Heavy Booster" description: "Super Heavy SpaceX has reached a milestone in the long journey of getting its Mars-bound Starship rocket off the ground. A picture uploaded by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shows off his space company’s “first Super Heavy booster,” a massive 230-foot rocket meant to get Starship, a gargantuan spacecraft in itself, into orbit. In fact, as […]" date: "2021-03-19" modified: "2021-03-19" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-photo-spacex-first-starship-super-heavy-booster" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Space" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Shows Off Photo of SpaceX’s First Starship Super Heavy Booster ![SpaceX has hit a new milestone. A picture uploaded by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shows off his space company's "first Super Heavy booster."]() *\Image: SpaceX\* ## Super Heavy SpaceX has reached a milestone in the long journey of getting its Mars-bound Starship rocket off the ground. A picture uploaded by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shows off his space company's first Super Heavy booster, a massive 230-foot rocket meant to get Starship, a gargantuan spacecraft in itself, into orbit. In fact, as [*Teslarati* points out](), it's likely the largest rocket booster ever built. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1372688191803768840 ## Booster 1 The rocket prototype, dubbed Booster 1, "is a production pathfinder, figuring out how to build and transport 70-meter-tall stage," Musk said in a [Thursday tweet](). "Booster 2 will fly." The Super Heavy rocket stage is meant to get Starship off the ground, but return back to Earth for vertical landing not long after liftoff. If you're keeping score, that's very much the same principle as the company's workhorse Falcon 9 boosters. In fact, Musk's ambitions already go beyond that plan. As he's suggested in the past, SpaceX may attempt to one day [catch the Super Heavy booster]() using a tower with giant arms. Once Starship reaches the surface of either the Moon or Mars, it won't need as much power to get back home due to thinner atmospheres and reduced gravity. It's an important moment for the space company, particularly in light of its ambitious timelines. If all goes according to plan, Musk is planning to launch Starship's first orbital test flight [as soon as this year]() — and it'll need a Super Heavy booster to do that. If [recent rumors are to be believed](), a third iteration of the Super Heavy booster could launch Starship SN20 to space as soon as this summer. **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk shows off SpaceX's 1st Starship Super Heavy booster]() \[*Space.com*\] **More on Super Heavy:** *[New Photos Show Half-Finished SpaceX Super Heavy Booster]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()