Name Change Alert! SpaceX's BFR is Now Just Called "Starship"

moreThe announcement was made earlier this week (on Nov. 19th) via Musk's twitter account. As he said at the time "Renaming BFR to Starship", followed by "Technically, two parts: Starship is the spaceship/upper stage & Super Heavy is the rocket booster needed to escape Earth’s deep gravity well (not needed for other planets or moons)".

This announcement comes on the heels of Musk indicating that previous plans to make the second stage of the Falcon 9 reusable were being scrapped in order to focus on the development of the Starship. "Btw, SpaceX is no longer planning to upgrade Falcon 9 second stage for reusability," he tweeted on Nov. 17. "Accelerating BFR instead. New design is very exciting! Delightfully counter-intuitive."

Prior to that (on Nov. 7th) Musk tweeted that his company would be building a miniature, winged version of the Starship to test its design. This mini-Starship, he claimed, will be launched atop a Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy rocket as early as June 2019 (which is expected to coincide with the launch of the first batch of SpaceX's Starlink satellites).

While Musk did not reveal any new details about the design for the spacecraft, it is safe to say that it will resemble the updated schematics that Musk presented back in September. It was at this time, during a press conference at SpaceX headquarters in California, that Musk shared who the first passengers aboard the BFR would be - Japanese fashion innovator/art curator, Yusaku Maezawa, and a group of artists.

However, the ultimate purpose of the Starship is to conduct regular flights to Mars and facilitate the construction of a permanent human settlement there. In September, Musk provided an updated look at what his proposed base (named Mars Base Alpha) would look like. When asked when this base might become a reality, he tweeted, "Probably 2028 for a base to be built."

“The objectives for the first mission will be to confirm water resources, identify hazards, and put in place initial power, mining, and life support infrastructure. A second mission, with both cargo and crew, is targeted for 2024, with primary objectives of building a propellant depot and preparing for future crew flights. The ships from these initial missions will also serve as the beginnings of the first Mars base, from which we can build a thriving city and eventually a self-sustaining civilization on Mars.”