STARSHIP

USERS
GUIDE
Revision 2.0 | April 2021

COPYRIGHT
Subject to the existing rights of third parties, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is the owner of the copyright in this
work, and no portion hereof is to be copied, reproduced, or disseminated without the prior written consent of SpaceX.

© Space Exploration Technologies Corp. All rights

reserved.
 STARSHIP PAYLOAD GUIDE

COMPANY DESCRIPTION
SpaceX was founded in 2002 to revolutionize access
to space and enable a multi-planetary society. Today,
SpaceX performs routine missions to space with its
Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles for a
diverse set of customers, including the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the
Department of Defense, international governments,
and leading commercial companies. SpaceX provides
further support to NASA with the Dragon spacecraft
by conducting cargo resupply and return missions to
and from the International Space Station (ISS). Soon,
SpaceX will begin transporting crew to the ISS as well.
To offer competitive launch and resupply services,
SpaceX has incorporated reusability into the Falcon
and Dragon systems, which improves vehicle
reliability while reducing cost. The Starship Program
now leverages SpaceX’s experience to introduce a
next- generation, super heavy-lift space
transportation system capable of rapid and reliable
reuse.

STARSHIP PROGRAM OVERVIEW

SpaceX’s Starship system represents a fully reusable
transportation system designed to service Earth orbit
needs as well as missions to the Moon and Mars. This
two-stage vehicle—composed of the Super Heavy
rocket (booster) and Starship (spacecraft) as shown
in Figure 1—is powered by sub-cooled methane and
oxygen. Starship is designed to evolve rapidly to meet
near term and future customer needs while
maintaining the highest level of reliability.

STARSHIP USERS GUIDE

Starship has the capability to transport satellites,
payloads, crew, and cargo to a variety of orbits and
Earth, Lunar, or Martian landing sites. Potential
Starship customers can use this guide as a resource
for preliminary payload accommodations information.
This is the initial release of the Starship Users Guide
and it will be updated frequently in response to
customer feedback.
PAYLOAD CONFIGURATIONS
Starship crew and uncrewed configurations are shown
in Figure 2. The uncrewed Starship allows for the
transport of satellites, large observatories, cargo,
refueling tanks or other unmanned assets.
Subsequent sections provide an overview of the
preliminary volume and mechanical interfaces
Figure 1: Starship and Super Heavy
available; preliminary payload environments
expected; and the preliminary mass-to-orbit
capabilities of Starship. Please contact
sales@spacex.com to evaluate how Starship can
meet your unique needs.

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 STARSHIP PAYLOAD GUIDE

Figure 3: Starship payload deployment sequence

PAYLOAD VOLUME
Starship’s 8 m diameter payload dynamic envelope is
shown in Figure 4. This large deployable envelope
allows for the design of novel payloads, rideshare
opportunities and entire constellations of satellites on
a single launch. An extended payload volume is also
available for payloads requiring up to 22 m of height.
Figure 2: Starship crew (left) and uncrewed (right)
configurations

PAYLOAD MECHANICAL INTERFACES

PAYLOAD FAIRING
The standard Starship payload fairing is 9 m in outer
diameter resulting in the largest usable payload
volume of any current or in development launcher.
The Starship payload fairing is a clamshell structure in
which the payload is integrated. Once integrated, the
clamshell fairing remains closed through launch up
until the payload is ready to deploy. An example
sequence of payload deployment is shown in Figure
3. To deploy the payload, the clamshell fairing door is
opened, and the payload adapter and payload are
tilted at an angle in preparation for separation. The
payload is then separated using the mission-unique
payload adapter. If there are multiple payloads on a
single mission, a rotating mechanism can be
provided to allow each satellite to separate with
maximum clearance. Once separation is confirmed
and the payload(s) have cleared the fairing, the
payload fairing door is closed in preparation for
Starship’s return to Earth.

Figure 4: Starship payload volume (dimensions in m)

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 STARSHIP PAYLOAD GUIDE

PAYLOAD MANIFESTING commanded after integration into the fairing without

Satellite customers may be manifested on single or facility located payload EGSE. This covers final pre-
multi-manifest missions. Customers can bring a single launch events in the processing facility and on the
spacecraft, coordinate their own rideshares for a launch pad, and some of these electrical interfaces
single Starship launch, or work with SpaceX to take may continue to be available in-flight. Contact
advantage of a multi-manifest launch. Customer sales@spacex.com for more information or other
missions do not need to wait for co-passengers in options.
order to fly.

The unique and large geometry of the Starship

payload bay also opens new opportunities for payload ENVIRONMENTS
integration. For payloads requiring additional Utilizing strong heritage and lessons learned from the
structural support, Starship has the ability to mount development of the Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon
supports along the sidewalls or nose to interface with Heavy launch systems, SpaceX is designing Starship
trunnion- style interfaces on the payloads, similar to and Super Heavy to provide as benign of a payload
those employed on NASA’s Space Shuttle orbiters. environment as possible. SpaceX will ensure that
When large payloads are co-manifested on Starship, Starship environments meet or improve upon those of
they are generally mounted side-by-side on the the Falcon Heavy launch system. To aid in the design
payload adapter. This reduces technical and of space vehicles capable of flying on Starship,
schedule dependencies between rideshare SpaceX is providing the following preliminary payload
participants compared to stacked configurations. environments.

Example single-mission manifests: LOADS

SpaceX is designing Starship to ensure that
 1-3x geosynchronous telecom satellite(s) acceleration environments are well within industry
 Full constellation of satellites on a single standard levels. During flight, the payload will
mission experience a range of axial and lateral accelerations.
 1-2x geosynchronous telecom satellites plus Both the Super Heavy and Starship engines can be
rideshare system of small satellites throttled to help maintain launch vehicle and payload
 In-space demonstration spacecraft that acceleration limits.
remains integrated with Starship and returns to
Earth
 Cargo and crew configurations
PAYLOAD ADAPTERS
The Starship payload attach fitting is designed to
accommodate standard payload interface systems in
single- or multi-manifest configurations. SpaceX will
either provide and integrate a payload adapter and
clampband separation system or will integrate an
adapter and separation system provided by the
customer. As a baseline, Starship is compatible with
heritage Falcon 937-mm, 1194-mm, 1666-mm and
2624-mm clampband interface requirements,
Figure 5: Payload maximum design load factors
including the ability to host multiple payloads side by
side given the large diameter available. For The maximum expected design load factors for a
customers with alternative interface requirements, single payload mission launching on Starship are
SpaceX has a wide breadth of experience designing shown in Figure 5. Actual payload dynamic loads,
and manufacturing non-standard adapters and accelerations, and deflections are a function of the
separation systems. dynamic coupling between Starship and the payload.
PAYLOAD ELECTRICAL INTERFACES These loads can be accurately determined via a
Starship will replicate common payload power and coupled loads analysis. For payload specific loads or
data interface standards on the flight vehicle in lieu rideshare loads assessments, contact
of
customer-provided electrical ground support sales@spacex.com.
equipment (EGSE) for final pre-launch operations.
This will allow the payload to be powered,
monitored, and

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 STARSHIP PAYLOAD GUIDE

ACOUSTICS
During flight, the payload will be subjected to a range
of acoustic environments. Levels are highest during
liftoff and transonic flight, due to acoustic and
aerodynamic excitations. The maximum expected
payload acoustic environments are shown in Table 1
and Figure 6 in one-third octave bands. Contact
sales@spacex.com for mission specific low frequency
acoustic assessments.

Frequency Acoustic Limit Levels

(Hz) 1/3 Octave

100 130
125 130
160 130
200 130
Figure 6: Payload acoustic environment (1/3 octave)
250 129
315 127
400 124.5
500 122
630 118.5
800 115.5
1000 113
1250 111
1600 109.5
2000 108.5
2500 107.5
3150 106.5
4000 105.5
5000 104.5
6300 103.5
8000 102.5
10000 101.5
OASPL (dB) 137.7

Table 1: Payload acoustic environment (1/3 octave)

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 STARSHIP PAYLOAD GUIDE

SHOCK
SpaceX is designing Starship to have benign shock
environments. Stage separation and payload fairing
door opening will generate negligible shock
environments at the payload interface. Consequently,
the maximum shock environment is typically due to
the payload separation system selected for the
mission. Typical maximum shock levels at the
payload separation plane induced by payload
separation systems are provided in Table 2 below.

Frequen Shock
cy SRS (g-
(Hz) peak)
100 20
1000 1000
10000 1000

Table 2: Typical payload separation-induced shock at

the payload separation plane

PAYLOAD INTEGRATION
SpaceX is initially planning for two launch sites for the
Starship vehicle:

 Kennedy Space Center LC-39A | 28.6082° N

latitude, 80.6041° W longitude
 Boca Chica launch pad | 25.9971° N latitude,
97.1554° W longitude

For payloads requiring return to Earth, landing sites

are coordinated with SpaceX and could include
Kennedy Space Center, FL or Boca Chica, TX.
Payloads are integrated into the Starship fairing
vertically in ISO Class 8 (Class 100,000) cleanrooms.
Then the integrated payload stack is transferred to the
launch pad and lifted onto the Starship vehicle, while
maintaining the same vertical orientation throughout
the entire process. Conditioned air is delivered into the
fairing during encapsulated ground processing while
in the processing facility and on the launch pad.

PAYLOAD SEPARATION
SpaceX provides in-flight commanding and monitoring
of the payload separation system(s). Starship can
perform 3-axis attitude controlled or spin-stabilized
spacecraft separation. Note that certain spacecraft
separation maneuvers may reduce available payload
volume. Collision avoidance maneuvers will be
performed as required.

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 STARSHIP PAYLOAD GUIDE

PERFORMANCE CREW CONFIGURATION

The Starship and Super Heavy system offers SpaceX was founded with the goal of making life
substantial mass-to-orbit capabilities. At the baseline multi- planetary. The Starship program is realizing this
reusable design, Starship can deliver over 150 metric goal with the crew configuration of Starship. Drawing
tons to LEO. Utilizing parking orbit refueling, Starship on experience from the development of Dragon for
is able to deliver unprecedented payload mass to a the Commercial Crew Program, the Starship crew
variety of Earth, cislunar, and interplanetary configuration can transport up to 40 people from Earth
trajectories. A summary of available Starship into LEO and on to the Moon and Mars. The crew
capabilities is provided in Table 3 below. The single configuration of Starship includes private cabins, large
launch mass-to-orbit assumes no orbital refueling of common areas, centralized storage, solar storm
Starship. The maximum mass-to-orbit assumes shelters and a viewing gallery.
parking orbit propellant transfer, allowing for a
substantial increase in payload mass. These
performance numbers assume full Starship reuse,
including Super Heavy return to launch site. For
performance estimates to a specific orbit, please
contact sales@spacex.com.

Orbit Mass-to- Mass-to-

Orbit Single Orbit
Launch Prop
Transfer
(t)
LEO1 150 150
Figure 8: Starship Crew Configuration
GTO2 30 150
Lunar N/A 150
Surface ADDITIONAL CAPABILITIES
Fully-reusable Starship and Super Heavy systems are
Mars Surface N/A 150
expected to allow for space-based activities that have
1Up to 500-km circular orbit at up to 28.5-deg inclination not been possible since the retirement of the Space
2 Assumes 185 x 35,786 km orbit at 27-deg inclination with 1800 m/s V to go Shuttle and Space Transportation System or have
Table 3: Expected Starship Performance never been possible before. With a fully reusable
Starship, satellites can be captured and repaired in
orbit, returned to Earth, or transferred to a new
CARGO CONFIGURATION operational orbit. For more information on additional
Starship was designed from the onset to be able to capabilities or to conceptualize new ideas, please
carry more than 150 tons of cargo to Mars and the contact sales@spacex.com.
Moon. The cargo version can also be used for rapid
point-to-point Earth transport. Various payload bay
configurations are available and allow for fully
autonomous deployment of cargo to Earth, Lunar, or
Martian surfaces with one example shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Cargo Starship on Lunar Surface

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 STARSHIP PAYLOAD GUIDE

LUNAR LANDER CONFIGURATION

The Moonship (lunar lander configuration) can
transport up to 10 people from Gateway to the Lunar
surface and back again to the Gateway in NRHO. The
lunar lander configuration of Starship includes private
cabins, large common areas, centralized storage,
solar storm shelters and a viewing gallery.

Figure 9: Moonship Configuration

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