SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space technology company, has spent about $15 billion developing its Starship, a massive two-stage rocket designed to take humans to the Moon and Mars.
According to the company’s IPO filing reviewed by Reuters, the investment in Starship is significantly higher than the cost of its Falcon 9 rocket, which remains the world’s most frequently reused launch vehicle. SpaceX spent around $400 million developing the Falcon 9.
SpaceX wants to reduce launch costs and increase the frequency of missions via Starship, which appears to be central to the company’s future plans.
Starship is being developed to carry heavier payloads and support a wider range of missions, including the deployment of larger batches of next-generation Starlink satellites.
This capability is expected to strengthen SpaceX’s satellite internet business while improving on-orbit efficiency.
The company is also working on an “air-like” model for space launches, where rockets can be launched, recovered and reused at a much higher frequency than current industry standards.
However, the program still faces technical and operational challenges, including perfecting heat shield systems for safe reentry, developing on-orbit refueling technology, and building the infrastructure needed to support rapid and repeated launches.
Starship is also expected to play a key role in NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon in the coming years.
Earlier, it was reported that SpaceX was competing with billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to build a lunar lander for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
SpaceX’s board has already linked CEO Elon Musk’s perks, beyond his nominal salary of $54,000, to the colonization of Mars.
