The scale of that power…
💡 Inside Track & Deep Insight
Elon Musk's retweet underscores the sheer scale of SpaceX's Starship Super Heavy booster, which generates ~74 meganewtons of thrust at liftoff—equivalent to about 80 Boeing 747s at full takeoff power. This is not merely a numerical curiosity; it represents a fundamental leap in rocketry. For context, the Saturn V, Apollo's iconic launch vehicle, produced ~35 meganewtons. Super Heavy doubles that. This thrust enables Starship to lift over 100 metric tons to low Earth orbit, fully reusable, slashing cost per kg to space by orders of magnitude. The immediate implications: Starlink deployment accelerates, Mars missions become plausible, and global satellite broadband competition intensifies. On the financial side, SpaceX's valuation (currently ~$180B private) could see further upward pressure as Starship enters operational service, potentially triggering a new space investment wave. However, regulatory hurdles (FAA license) and technical risks (engine reliability, reusability cadence) remain. For public equities, related space ETFs (e.g., ARKX) and suppliers may see indirect gains. Crypto impact: minimal directly, but any positive sentiment around 'disruption' occasionally spills into speculative assets like Dogecoin, given Musk's history.