The Starship rocket carrier, the most powerful and largest rocket in history, conducted its
fourth demonstration flight on June 7. It is also the most affordable. Super Heavy
the initial stage, effectively replicated a landing over the Gulf of Mexico, approximately
30 kilometres from the launch site. The Starship spacecraft, in the second stage, executed
a powered landing manoeuvre over the Indian Ocean. Starship's immense payload capacity
and reusability will substantially decrease the cost of transporting one kilogram to
Earth's orbit, the Moon, and beyond. Currently, Falcon 9, the least expensive rocket, can
deliver one kilogram for approximately 3,000 USD. There is no global competitor that provides
a lower price. Nevertheless, the cost of transporting a single kilogram is anticipated to be tens
of thousands of dollars with Starship. The Super Heavy Starship carrier's performance
and size are not revolutionary aspects. What is revolutionary is the design approach that
facilitates rapid, cost-effective, simple manufacturing and complete reusability. The outcome is a substantial cost reduction and a simultaneous increase in payload mass to
orbit. SpaceX launched 1,000 tonnes of cargo into space in 2023. Currently, the entire
world – primarily China except SpaceX – transports 250 tonnes of cargo to orbit annually, a cost
that is at least twice as high as that of SpaceX. The future Starship will enable the
launch of tens or hundreds of thousands of tonnes of cargo annually. These new capabilities
have naturally grabbed the Pentagon's interest, which plans to use a variety of SpaceX capabilities
and services. The Air Force Research Laboratory, AFRL, intends to test cargo drops from the
Starship spacecraft in fiscal year 2025 or early 2026. Ultimately, Starship will allow
for the transfer of up to 100 tonnes of freight anywhere on Earth. AFRL will also support
the commercial industry for rocket-powered global transportation as part of the AROC
STAR – Rocket Cargo System Technologies and Research – programme. AFRL, for example
is investigating the use of Starships to transport military goods via suborbital and or orbital
trips anywhere in the world. This will include so-called point-to-point delivery P2PD. To
that purpose, AFRL awarded SpaceX a five-year contract worth 102 million USD through the
Rocket Cargo Programme. Of course, important technical challenges must be addressed along
the way, as well as the essential worldwide infrastructure and the overall concept of
rocket cargo transportation. Even though a C-17 Globemaster 2 can accomplish it, one
thing is certain – rocket P2PD will always supplement and extend traditional air transport
As per AFRL personnel, rocket cargo transportation can be integrated as a regular part of the
SpaceX launch cadence and treated just like another satellite in the launch flow, or contracts
can be put in place that allow the military to fit into the launch schedules when needed
The military can reduce costs by an order of magnitude, which becomes very attractive
The plan is to continue refining the concept of global rocket transportation, along with
the advancement of Starship development. The Starship's mission is not simply to transport
rocket freight from one location to another. Instead, it can use an atmospheric manoeuvre
to release the payload in mid-flight. The cargo might be transported on customised pallets
with parachutes, similar to those dropped from cargo planes, or in return capsules
Inversion Space, an American startup, is designing the smallest return capsule. The Starship
might unleash hundreds or thousands of these capsules. Inversion capsules may also carry
warheads. They could be used as conventional returnable warheads in a MIRV – Multiple
Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle – system. This capability – to strike any point on
Earth with a huge conventional strike, independent of the calibre of adversary air defences – is
intriguing for deterrence and escalation management purposes. Orbital bombardment could normally respond proportionally to the restricted use of tactical nuclear weapons. One might also
imagine Starships filled with specific resources, serving as army preposition stocks. APS Starships
would wait in Earth's orbit and transport goods to anywhere in the world in an hour
and a half. They might also be loaded and prepared near launch pads in the US. The US
Transportation Command, Transcom, which coordinates and manages the strategic transport of troops
materials, and supplies worldwide, is particularly hopeful that military materials can be quickly
deployed in the Asia-Pacific region in the event of a conflict with China. The advantage
is that while going to Southeast Asia, Starship can take off from Texas, cross the Caribbean
fly around Africa, and land in Guam via the Indian Ocean. This is the exact trajectory
of Starship's fourth suborbital test flight, which took place on June 7th
In the longer term, the Department of Defence is looking into the prospect of quickly delivering
supplies and personnel to orbit and the Moon's surface. The Pentagon's major purpose is
to promote the growth of the commercial market. There are two explanations for this. The Pentagon
will no longer be forced to rely on restrictive and prohibitively expensive government options
such as SLS. Second, it will boost American companies' competitiveness in the worldwide
market. A week ago, the Defence Innovation Unit, DIU, announced the first of several
planned contracts under the novel Responsive Space Delivery project with the Spaceport
Company, which is working on creating mobile launch platforms for rockets from sea-based
platforms. As per DIU, a sea-based launch platform is a strategically significant capability
that enhances access to equatorial launches, while enabling sensitive launch coordination by avoiding heavily trafficked airspace. Now, do you think rocket-based delivery is
too risky? Let us know in the comments. We discuss such interesting topics every day
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