SpaceX chief Elon Musk recently gave Tim Dodd, known as the Everyday Astronaut on YouTube, an extensive tour of the Starfactory in Boca Chica, Texas. The tour, shot just a day before the fourth test flight of the Starship megarocket earlier this month, offers an inside look at where SpaceX is building and assembling its groundbreaking rockets.
During the hourlong video, viewers are taken through various parts of the facility where workers are hard at work constructing rocket components and putting together the Starship vehicle. Musk shared his ambitious vision for the new facility, parts of which are still under construction. He hopes the Starfactory will eventually produce up to 100 Starship spacecraft per year, with the ultimate goal of building as many as a thousand. However, to reach this lofty target, additional production facilities will be needed.
Musk showed Dodd and the viewers several key areas of the Starfactory, including a room filled with powerful Raptor engines. These engines power the Super Heavy booster, which is responsible for lifting the Starship spacecraft into orbit. The next-generation Raptor engine, Musk explained, will fly without a heat shield. Because of its exposure, it will need cooling circuits built into all its parts. “It looks very simple on the outside, but it’s complicated on the inside,” Musk said.
A significant part of Musk's discussion focused on rocket reusability, a crucial aspect of SpaceX's strategy. He aims to build a fully reusable rocket, where both the first and second stages can be landed and quickly flown again, much like a large airliner. SpaceX has already achieved first-stage reuse with its Falcon 9 rocket, which returns to Earth and lands upright shortly after launch. However, returning the second stage from space remains a significant challenge.
For the Starship to be viable, SpaceX needs to land the first-stage Super Heavy booster and safely land the Starship at its destination, whether it be the moon, Mars, or beyond. The spacecraft will carry crew and cargo, and it then needs to be able to return home safely.
SpaceX is heavily investing in the Starfactory as it prepares its Starship system for future crew and cargo flights to the moon. Much testing is still required, but excitement is building, with the Starship expected to embark on its fifth test flight as early as next month.
