# Starship development and progress \[previous title: Will Musk's starship reach orbit this year?\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** elon-musk\ **Created:** [July 7, 2022, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583 "2022-07-07T22:05:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 317
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583/317 "2023-06-30T01:56:40Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > So, maybe 5,000 kg? That’s a lot of extra weight. Not so much for the booster. There’s typically a high ratio between first-stage mass and payload. Maybe 10:1 in the usual case, though probably a bit less for a return-to-launch-site booster (say 5:1). The ullage gas itself has significant mass at MECO. Considering just the booster alone, there’s probably at least 2400 m^3 of volume for LOX, which at 6 bar and 500 K is ~11 tons. That could shoot up far higher if it got chilled due to slosh. Can’t be ignored. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > a gigantic steelpan calypso drum head\*. Some speculation is in agreement with that idea: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/Bry2a0F.png "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/Bry2a0F) [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/ZNjoPmg.png "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/ZNjoPmg) Will the secondary dome have some extra protection? Heat tiles, or maybe just made from niobium? We shall see. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starship-development-and-progress-previous-title-will-musks-starship-reach-orbit-this-year/967583)._