--- title: "SpaceX Unveils Massive Starship Prototype Design" description: "SpaceX CEO Elon Musk presented new details about the company's gigantic Starship rocket prototype at SpaceX's test site in Boca Chica, Texas on Saturday." date: "2019-09-30" modified: "2019-09-30" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-final-starship-prototype-design" categories: - "Space" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "the digest" --- # SpaceX Unveils Massive Starship Prototype Design ![SpaceX CEO Elon Musk presented new details about the company's gigantic Starship rocket prototype at SpaceX's test site in Boca Chica, Texas on Saturday.]() *\Image: SpaceX\* ## Starship MK1 SpaceX is dead serious about sending humans to the moon and eventually Mars. On Saturday, CEO Elon Musk [presented]() new details about the company's gigantic [Starship]() rocket at the company's test site in Boca Chica, Texas. Looming behind him: the now-completed 165-foot Starship MK1 prototype, which has been [in construction]() for months now and which the company plans to test later this year. "This thing is going to take off, fly to 65,000 feet — about 20 kilometers — and come back and land in about one to two months," Musk said at the event. "So that giant thing, it's really going be pretty epic to see that thing take off and come back." ## Super Powerful The prototype features three next-gen reusable Raptor engines and a total of four fins, seemingly powered by [Tesla battery packs](). With fuel, the entire rig will weigh about 1,400 tons. Together with its Super Heavy booster, it could end up becoming — by far — the most powerful rocket in the world. Just one Raptor engine produces twice the thrust of the rockets SpaceX uses for its Falcon 9 rockets. According to Musk, it will produce twice as much thrust as the next most powerful rocket in history, NASA's retired Saturn V rocket that launched the Apollo missions. Rather than having the boosters land on pads, like SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets, Starship will right itself after descending belly first through the atmosphere. "It’s much more akin to a skydiver," Musk said at the event. "It will look totally nuts to see that thing land." **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk Just Unveiled Starship, SpaceX's Human-Carrying Rocket]() \[*Wired*\] **More on Starship:** *[Watch SpaceX Complete Its Starship Prototype Live]()* ## 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]()