Human rating the SpaceX Starship could take a few years after it is flying successfully to orbit. However, the SpaceX Starship could fly unmanned into orbit and even dock with the ISS Space Station.
ErcXSpace has some renderings of what the SpaceX Starship looks like in orbit and docked with the Space Station. It would be trivial and fast for SpaceX Starship to be able to hold safe living conditions. The human rating issues are more difficult to prove launching reliably and safely. This would also mean proving launch abort safety.
If the SpaceX Starship flies unmanned to orbit then astronauts could fly up via other systems like the SpaceX Dragon and dock and board Starships.
Massive amounts of scientific systems could be loaded into the Starship. If additional docking systems are carried up then there could be four times as much space on the ISS by just docking and parking three SpaceX Starships.
It will be far more useful to human rate the SpaceX Starship to fly human astronauts.
It would also be very useful to make larger space equipment that would be enabled by the Starship.
The seven 8.4 meter mirrors of the 24.5 meter Giant Magellan Telescope would fit into the 9-meter wide Starship.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
Category: Science
Source: Next Big Future
