SpaceX conducted a static fire test of a single Starship 26 engine. The test demonstrated "flight-like startup for a Starship deorbit burn," according to SpaceX. Credit: SpaceX | edited by Space.com's ...

Launch costs were high and minimizing mass sent to space was the main driver for mission design. To reduce mass, mission designs employed nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP), in-situ resource utilization ...