SpaceX is laying the Starpipe gas pipeline to accelerate Starship rocket launches
Kyiv • UNN
SpaceX plans to lay the Starpipe gas pipeline to the Starbase spaceport for uninterrupted methane supply. This will increase the number of Starship rocket launches from dozens to hundreds per year.
SpaceX plans to begin construction next month of a 13-kilometer Starpipe gas pipeline to its Starbase spaceport in Texas. The new infrastructure is intended to ensure an uninterrupted supply of liquid methane for Starship rockets and will allow a significant increase in the number of launches, Reuters reports, writes UNN.
Details
According to documents submitted to the Texas Railroad Commission, the pipeline is planned to be commissioned by January 26. Currently, one Starship launch requires about 2.4 million liters of liquid methane, which is delivered by hundreds of tanker trucks. This scheme does not meet the company's plans for a sharp increase in flight intensity.
SpaceX wants to provide its own fuel
According to Reuters, Starpipe may be only the first stage of a broader company strategy. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell previously stated that the company is considering building its own fuel infrastructure, as well as the possibility of extracting natural gas and producing rocket fuel.
Starship is a key SpaceX project for future flights to the Moon and Mars, the development of the Starlink satellite network, and the launch of new spacecraft. After 12 test launches, Elon Musk's company plans to eventually increase their number from dozens to hundreds, and later to thousands per year.
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