Crandi

Starships Atomic Rockets

Leo Migdal
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starships atomic rockets

This page is for starships that travel at conventional speeds. The fact that interstellar distances are so astronomically huge means the main problem is the voyages will take many thousands of years. And that's for the nearby stars, others will take millions of years. The main problems are that human astronauts will die of old age long before the voyage ends, and most spacecraft are not built to last that long. The starships in this page come under the headings of "Go Slow", "NAFAL" (not as fast as light) and "Apocee" (far from c). For arbitrary reasons I am defining an Apocee starship as one which cruises at a speed below 14% of the speed of light (0.14c).

This is because that is the speed where the relativistic gamma factor reaches 101% (γ = 1.01). I warned you it was arbitrary. The first of Gordon Woodcock's methods of interstellar travel is "go slow". Distance between stars is huge, traveling said distance slower-than-light will take a huge amount of time, human beings have a very limited lifespan. And it is much easier to travel at 10% the speed of light than it is to travel at 99.99999% the speed of light So you give someone an inch and they want a yard.

Given them a rocket ship and suddenly they want a star ship. SF writers want to use exotic settings on alien planets, but the real estate in our solar system mostly looks like a bunch of rocks. "That's OK," the writer thinks, "There are a million-jillion other solar systems in the galaxy, surely they are not all a bunch of rocks (I know they are there, I've got a map). I know that those spoil-sports at NASA have ruined our solar system for SF writers since their nosy space probes failed to find dinosaur-infested jungles of Venus and scantily-clad Martian princesses. But they haven't sent probes to other stars yet! Why not turn my rocket ship into a star ship?"

Unfortunately it isn't that easy. The basic problem is that interstellar distances are freaking huge. The introduction begins like this: "Space," it says, "is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mindboggingly big it is. I mean you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space.

Listen ..." and so on. Consider: a single light-year is an inconceivable abyss. Denumerable but inconceivable. At an ordinary speed — say, a reasonable pace for a car in a megalopolitan traffic, two kilometers per minute — you would consume almost nine million years in crossing it. And in Sol's neighborhood, the stars averaged some nine light-years apart. Beta Virginis was thirty-two distant.

Let's make a mental model. Say the scale is such that one astronomical unit is equal to one millimeter (1/25th inch). There is a glowing dot for the Sun, and one millimeter away is a microscopic speck representing the Earth. The edge of the solar system is about at Pluto's orbit, which varies from 30 mm to 50 mm from the Sun (about 1 and 3/16 inch to almost 2 inches). Imagine this ten-centimeter model floating above your palm. SpaceX has received key environmental approval from the U.S.

Air Force to develop Starship-Super Heavy mega-rocket launch and landing operations at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. And Florida's first landmark Starship launch from NASA's neighboring Kennedy Space Center could take flight in early- to mid-2026, Space Launch Delta 45 commander Col. Brian Chatman said. "We’ve received approval to develop Space Launch Complex-37 for Starship operations at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Construction has started," SpaceX officials said in a tweet Monday, Dec. 1, alongside an animated video depicting twin launch towers.

"With three launch pads in Florida, Starship will be ready to support America’s national security and Artemis goals as the world’s premiere spaceport continues to evolve to enable airport-like operations," the tweet said. The Air Force record of decision, which was issued "after considering the potential environmental consequences" during a public-comment review period, covers up to 76 Starship rocket and Super Heavy booster launches and 152 landings... Modifications to Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station have already begun. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. SpaceX just took a big step toward launching its Starship megarocket from Florida.

The U.S. Air Force has given SpaceX permission to develop Space Launch Complex-37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as a launch site for Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. All 11 of the giant vehicle's test flights to date have flown from Starbase, SpaceX's facility in South Texas. SLC-37 could end up hosting up to 76 Starship launches and 152 landings every year, provided the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration determines that the airspace impacts aren't too onerous. SpaceX says it has already begun construction for Starship launches from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, following recent approvals by the Department of the Air Force.

On Monday, the Department of the Air Force (DAF) issued a Record of Decision regarding an environmental impact statement for launches of Starship and its super-heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. According to the Record of Decision, the DAF will allow SpaceX to redevelop SLC-37 for Starship launch and landing operations. The decision comes after nearly two years of SpaceX working through the approvals process, which began in February 2024. The private spaceflight company thanked the Department of the Air Force, the 45th Space Force, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife for "their effort on the environmental review," according to a social media post on Monday. But residents near Cape Canaveral have been critical of the failed test flights in Texas and are concerned about impacts on the region with the bigger rocket.

SpaceX has been given a major boost for its Starship operations at Cape Canaveral in Florida after the Department of the Air Force (DAF) gave the green light for the company to develop the... Preparatory construction work at the site began earlier this year, but the nod from DAF means SpaceX can now move onto the serious work of building a launchpad for its mighty Starship rocket. The green light comes after a thorough environmental review focusing on the impact of Starship launches on nearby wildlife that also included a safety analysis. SpaceX is developing multiple Starship launch facilities on Florida’s Space Coast, including a pad at Launch Complex-39A (LC-39A), where building work has also started. The goal is to conduct as many as 76 Starship launches per year from SLC-37, and up to 44 launches annually from LC-39A, with the first full roster of launches starting next year or... SpaceX also wants to repurpose Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) for Starship flights.

The site is currently used mainly for launches of the Falcon 9, SpaceX’s workhorse rocket. CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — The U.S. Department of the Air Force gave SpaceX approval to build a launch and landing pad for its Starship at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37. After months of input from the community, the decision was posted on the Air Force’s website, and it is the official green light SpaceX needed to bring its Starship to Brevard County. The rocket booster is called Super Heavy and the spacecraft is called Starship. When they are joined together, they are collectively called Starship.

SpaceX confirmed on X that construction for the launch pad is already underway for Starship, which will return humans to the moon in NASA’s Artemis missions. We’ve received approval to develop Space Launch Complex-37 for Starship operations at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Construction has started. With three launch pads in Florida, Starship will be ready to support America’s national security and Artemis goals as the world’s… pic.twitter.com/USgwNzwK8L Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Construction work is underway to build Space Complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, SpaceX officials announced on Monday.

SpaceX recently obtained approval to begin work on the launch site that will support missions of the SpaceX Starship, which is the world's largest booster rocket, called Super Heavy, and the Starship spacecraft. No timeline was given for the project's completion or when Starship launches would begin at the "world's premiere spaceport," SpaceX officials posted on X. We've received approval to develop Space Launch Complex-37 for Starship operations at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Construction has started. With three launch pads in Florida, Starship will be ready to support America's national security and Artemis goals as the world's... pic.twitter.com/USgwNzwK8L— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 1, 2025

Starship is intended to carry humans to the moon in support of NASA's Artemis missions and support future manned missions to Mars, according to Spectrum News.

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