SpaceX Starship advances development as details emerge on rocket scale

SpaceX is developing its Starship vehicle, a stacked system that currently stands 407 feet tall and generates 18.1 million pounds-force of liftoff thrust. Engadget reported that the fully stacked launch vehicle is the tallest rocket ever flown and features roughly twice the liftoff thrust of NASA's Space Launch System. [1]

The rocket is designed to assist NASA with plans to land astronauts on the Moon. Engadget noted that during its initial full-stack launch in April 2023, the exhaust from the super heavy booster shattered the concrete launch pad and scattered debris over 385 acres. [1]

Starship is a two-stage, fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle that SpaceX builds and launches from its Starbase facility in Texas. The rocket is designed as the successor to the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy vehicles, and it aims to achieve the highest payload capacity of any launch vehicle created to date. As of September 2026, Starship has launched 14 times, achieving nine successful flights alongside five failures. [7]