SpaceX’s Starship Could Be a MIRV That Delivers People
“Anywhere in the world in under an hour” — this is the claim that SpaceX has made with regards to Earthbound point-to-point travel. Given the prospective capacities of the combined booster and Starship platform this seems a credible claim, though one that would test the constitution of the typical business traveler.
What only a few seem to be talking about, however, is the incredibly doctrine-shattering changes that this would bring about in military applications. “Anywhere in the world in under an hour” rings slightly familiar with “The World on Time”, the slogan of Federal Express. Federal Express was created by Fred Smith, a veteran of Vietnam who took the lessons of the integrated logistics of delivery assets and materiel to Vietnam and created the most effective logistics and delivery company in the world. It shouldn’t be difficult for us to think backward and see the military applications of a system designed to deliver satellites and people.
While numbers are sure to shift around a bit while the technical details are sorted out, the current projected payload for Starship is around 100,000 kg, or 220,000 pounds, giving it a payload a bit more than the C-17 Globemaster This is the projected payload to Low Earth Orbit — we can presume that. while some of the delta V that would be used to get to orbit will be traded for…
