Landing men on the Moon was, without any doubt, one of the greatest space race achievements of the 20th century. But this century, we should build a base on our natural satellite and use it as a transit spot for our future missions to Mars. The first one would never have been possible without the world’s largest and most famous rocket — Saturn V. The second one will unlikely come to fruition without Elon Musk’s brainchild, Starship. So, we decided to have a good look at the Starship vs Saturn V comparison and see just how much these rockets have in common and what their main differences are. But first, let’s start with a bit of history!
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Why is Saturn V No Longer Used?
Saturn V entered history as a rocket that took the first people to the Moon. At the time, it was the most powerful, advanced tech NASA ever created. In the late 1960s-early 1970s, it completed a total of 13 missions, but why is it no longer in use? Several reasons stand behind this:
- Space exploration goals shifted from Moon research to launching satellites to LEO.
- Saturn V was created specifically for Moon missions, and when the Apollo program was discontinued, there was no sense in using such heavy-weight tech.
- Saturn was not reusable and very expensive both in terms of manufacture and launch.
Most importantly, today’s technological advances make it possible to build reusable, more cost-effective launchers with similar (or even more advanced) technical specifications — a notion clearly exemplified by Space’X Starship. So, is the Starship more powerful than Saturn V? Read on to find out!
Starship vs Saturn V Size
Even though over half a century of technological advancement stands between these two careers, Starship and Saturn V have almost identical sizes and widths. The legendary rocket stands 110.6 m high and 10.1 m wide, while Starship is 120 m high and 9 m wide. But then again, if Starship should deliver cargo and astronauts to a lunar base, why was Saturn V so large? After all, it only had to carry crews of three people.
Since the 1960s, space tech has been heavily miniaturized. Back in the age of Apollo, it engineers could not design a smaller rocket that would ensure crew safety and home delivery of lunar soil samples. Saturn V consisted of three modules and multiple stages that gradually detached as the carrier left our planet’s atmosphere.
Still, Saturn was much lighter than Starship — 190,000 kg against 330,000 kg. Here, the cause is rocket reusability. Back at the time, technology did not allow to reuse of rocket stages, so NASA engineers went with the most lightweight and affordable materials allowed by safety measures. As Orbital Today explains, SpaceX intends to reuse every stage of Starship, so Elon Musk’s builds mostly of stainless steel rather than lighter aluminum and titanium, as was the case with Saturn.
Starship vs Saturn V Thrust
Thrust is one of the main parameters that define the power of a launcher. Clearly, Starship is more advanced in terms of power, even though it only has two stages (as opposed to Saturn’s three). Still, while NASA’s Apollo tech could generate a total of 40,000 kN with all of its three stages (and 33,000 kN were generated by the first stage alone), Starship can generate 75,000 kN of thrust. Starship’s first booster, though, is very similar to Saturn in terms of thrust. It generates about 33,800 kN — just enough to escape our planet’s gravity.
So, is Starship the most powerful rocket ever? So far, it certainly looks this way — at least in terms of thrust. But how much can it carry?
Saturn V vs Starship Payload
Right now, SpaceX is still carrying out test flights with its SN prototypes, so it’s not entirely clear how much the rocket will carry, exactly. However, according to official company statements, Starship’s payload capacity should range between 100-150 tons, depending on the destination.
Saturn V was orbit-depended as well, but its payload capacity to LEO was surprisingly similar to Starship — up to 140 tons. The biggest drawback is that it could only carry 43,5 tons to translunar orbit, and SpaceX promises to at least double this figure.
Starship vs Saturn V Price
We already mentioned that one of the reasons why Saturn V went out of use was its excessively high manufacturing cost. Back in the early 1970s, the cost of developing a single Saturn V rocket was $6.5 billion. Besides, NASA had to pay $185 more million for every lift-off. Considering the inflation rate, the launch cost alone would exceed a billion in today’s prices.
Starship’s launch price should be considerably lower — somewhere between 1.5 and 2 million dollars, whereas its development cost varies between $5 and $10 billion. This alone makes Starship a way more reasonable investment. So far, its only drawback is that it’s not yet mission-ready. But, considering SpaceX’s determination and series of successful test launches, that problem should be fixed soon enough.
