New lunar starship prototype revealed!

As SpaceX approaches the final days of the second orbital test flight of Starship, all attention is focused on this significant event. However, there's something more surprising at play. Lately, certain details have surfaced, suggesting that SpaceX is in the process of developing a fresh design concept for the Starship human landing system. With unique features unlike any other before, this new design shows SpaceX's meticulous plan for the future like never before. So how does it change? Join us to explore this new design for HLS in today's episode of AlphaTech. Since 2021, when NASA announced the contract with SpaceX, we haven't seen any updated information about what the Artemis will land on the Moon with later this decade. However, recently, there have been new images surfacing, claimed to be new renders of SpaceX's HLS variation of the Starship vehicle, originating from an account on Twitter named David Willis. He's emphasized that these renders are not the work of a random YouTuber or 3D artist. They are official images that were part of the ongoing development process. SpaceX has not directly confirmed this, but it's still an interesting new design. Comparing it with the previous design, which featured a sleek white rocket with integrated solar panels at the top, a design that would be fantastic in a perfect world but, like all spacecraft, is usually not feasible, although aesthetically pleasing. This has been the visualization when discussing Starship's landing on the Moon for NASA. So what are the differences? The new design, as per Willis, is an older one, but he couldn't confirm if it's outdated or not. It presents a much more refined aesthetic. We can see three big changes to the rocket. The first is the solar panels now being deployed from bays at the top of the rocket. While in flight, they can fan out similar to how most spacecraft do solar panels. Once landed on the Moon, the panels lower to be flush with the side of the lander. The Moon has 1,400 watts per square meter of solar power. Solar energy collection on the Moon would be about 25% efficient. The SpaceX Starship is about 50 meters tall. The solar panels are half the height of Starship. The large solar panels are 25 meters tall and 4 meters wide. This is about 35 kilowatts of solar per wing. The total of five such panels is about 175 kilowatts. There is a lighter thin film, flexible solar panel that would enable more power per kilogram transported to the Moon. The second noticeable change is to the landing legs. They are much smaller and look fixed in place. The original design showed larger, possibly retractable landing legs. This new design could mean less weight than having the legs needing to retract into the body. Finally, if these renders are real, it shows that SpaceX has repositioned the thrusters to be in several pods around the lander. These landing thrusters are high up to reduce the amount of disturbance they'll cause on the lunar surface. The last thing you need when you're landing is large rocks flying all around you. While we aren't sure if these are real renders from SpaceX, they are of the same style and quality. The render of the Starship HLS landed on the lunar surface even has the same ground features and background as the original. There's a good chance these renders could have been used for some sort of internal briefing with stakeholders like NASA, but never released to the public. In fact, SpaceX and NASA haven't shared a lot about the current status of Starship HLS. But we have seen clues down in Starbase. By clues, I mean we've seen some nose cones with HLS written on them down at Starship's production facility. It could very well signify that they're mockups of the internal components, perhaps the life support system featuring images of electronic panels and various complex valves. While this doesn't provide an abundance of information, it does indicate a significant development milestone that SpaceX has achieved for their HLS lunar spacecraft variant. During a fireside chat moderated by Watson Morgan in late October, Benji Reed, SpaceX's senior director of human spaceflight programs, phrased it as, And really, when we say launch, we're talking about launching safety. We're talking about launching reliably. But you gotta launch and you gotta do it a lot, Reed said. And the beautiful thing about the Artemis program and all these different players and everyone working together under Artemis is that all these tests and all these launches and all these vehicles and everything that's happening are all part of that signal launch and test and go. Watson Morgan said her past experience as the deputy director of the engineering directorate at MSFC, and more than 30 years as an engineer and manager, leads her to fully support and cherish SpaceX's approach to getting its lander ready. However, she added, I'd be remiss if I didn't say we're concerned about the SpaceX schedule for HLS and the concern is that our critical path, even today, goes through these test flights. Morgan and her team are eager to see SpaceX return to flight, stating that they'd like to see around 15 to 17 launches of Starship en route to the crewed landing during the Artemis 3 mission. She said because SpaceX ticks off several objectives with each flight instead of getting everything done before launching once, these test flights are critical for developing the hardware that'll eventually be used to support the HLS program. All for us is key and we're working very closely with SpaceX on ensuring that this next test, making sure that they're ready for it, understanding what they hope to achieve from it, and understanding the risk. And they are all high risk, Watson Morgan said. Watson Morgan said in addition to the more highly visible flight test campaign, the HLS program and SpaceX have been stepping through some of the development milestones needed to support the version of Starship and the Artemis program. We had a cold-start Raptor vacuum test that was recently completed. They're also working on smaller thrusters, Watson Morgan said. In September, NASA announced that SpaceX had successfully conducted tests with a series of engines for the HLS. This crucial test confirmed the engines' ability to initiate and operate under the extreme cold conditions encountered during extended space missions. A notable distinction of Artemis missions from those in low-Earth orbit is the potential for the landers to endure extended periods of inactivity in space, subjecting the hardware to temperatures far lower than those experienced in shorter missions closer to Earth. One of the earliest milestones achieved under SpaceX's Artemis III contract, dating back to November 2021, was an engine test that carried immense significance, says NASA. The test served a dual purpose. First, it demonstrated the Raptor engine's capacity to modulate its power output dynamically over time, a critical feature referred to as the throttle profile. Secondly, it substantiated the engine's capability to sustain stable operation for the entire duration of the power descent phase. The favorable outcome of this test filled NASA with early confidence in SpaceX's engine development endeavors. The next milestone in SpaceX's journey toward lunar exploration encompasses the comprehensive testing of the Raptor engines during the company's second integrated test flight of the Starship. According to Kathy Lueders, SpaceX's Starbase general manager, Earlier this year, SpaceX launched its first fully integrated Starship rocket that made it almost to stage separation. Since then, the company's had to wait for regulatory approval for its next launch. SpaceX's vice president of build and flight reliability, Bill Gerstenmaier, said during a hearing last month that the FAA needs at least twice the resources that they have today for licensing rocket launches. While the FAA has completed as much as it can in the Starship review, it's waiting on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to complete its consultation before it can sign off on another launch. In fact, Fish and Wildlife Service was also back cleaning up the debris, talked with Texas Park and Wildlife, and the reason nothing was done for a long time was not to disturb bird nesting. They also made it clear that it could take a long time to pick up every last piece of concrete without stressing the wildlife. Had the regulatory process been completed at this point, the potential of a launch on November 6th, as documentation points towards, would have been on the cards. SpaceX showed during the maiden flight of Starship, they can move into a launch stance within days of approval. With a final element yet to be completed, a target of mid-November becomes a viable aspiration. This Starship flight will mark a crucial journey determining the success of important missions, particularly NASA's planned return to the Moon mission set for 2025. Time waits for no one, so we can only hope that Starship will be launched as early as possible, a timeline that will become even more unbelievable when the Starship is stranded on the ground. That's all for today's episode. We hope you enjoyed it and learned something new. Please let us know what you think in the comment section below. Your feedback is very important to us and helps us make better videos for you. Thank you so much for watching and see you next time.