![\"Elon](\"https:\/\/wp-assets.futurism.com\/2018\/11\/elon-musk-changed-bfrs-name-fourth-time-starship-300x158.jpg\")
<\/div>Beam Me up, Elon<\/h2>
Until yesterday, SpaceX’s futuristic and extremely ambitious rocket — which it says could carry 100 passengers to Mars<\/a> — was called the Big Falcon Rocket.<\/p> But on Monday, Elon Musk announced on Twitter that its name was changing to “Starship.” That marks the fourth name change since SpaceX announced the craft more than five years ago<\/a>.<\/p> Before mid-2016, it was referred to<\/a> as the “Mars Colonial Transporter.” In mid-2016, it turned<\/a> into the “Interplanetary Transport System.” In September 2017 it was dubbed the “BFR,” for Big Falcon Rocket — though its codename reportedly contained<\/a> a certain expletive in place of “falcon.”<\/p> Renaming BFR to Starship<\/p> — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote> In a follow-up tweet, Musk points out<\/a> that the “Starship” itself is the “spaceship\/upper stage” while the gigantic rocket booster required to leave Earth’s gravitational pull will be called “Super Heavy.”<\/p> The latter is likely a reference to the SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy booster, currently the rocket with the highest payload capacity<\/a> of any rocket in operation.<\/p> The news comes after Elon tweeted<\/a> that the BFR’s new design will be “delightfully counter-intuitive.” We have yet to see what that meant.<\/p> Elon also announced that SpaceX scrapped plans<\/a> for a “mini-BFR” that would upgrade an existing Falcon 9 rocket to test the BFR’s lightweight heatshield and control surfaces capable of hypersonic flight.<\/p> For now, we’ll have to wait to see if all of this amounts to a rocket capable of taking passengers around the Moon any time soon.<\/p> READ MORE: Elon Musk renames his BFR spacecraft Starship<\/a> [BBC]<\/p> More on the BFR: The New Render of Elon Musk’s BFR Means It Might Have Some Dope Features<\/a><\/p> The post Elon Musk Just Changed the BFR’s Name for a Fourth Time<\/a> appeared first on Futurism<\/a>.<\/p> Visit link: Beam Me up, Elon Until yesterday,\u00a0SpaceX\u2019s futuristic and extremely ambitious rocket \u2014 which it says could carry\u00a0 100 passengers to Mars \u00a0\u2014 was called the Big Falcon\u00a0Rocket. But on Monday, Elon Musk announced on Twitter\u00a0that its name was\u00a0changing\u00a0to \u201cStarship.\u201d That marks the fourth name change since\u00a0SpaceX announced the craft more than\u00a0 five years ago . Before mid-2016, it was referred to as the \u201cMars Colonial Transporter.\u201d In mid-2016, it turned into the \u201cInterplanetary Transport System.\u201d In September 2017 it was dubbed the \u201cBFR,\u201d for Big Falcon Rocket\u00a0\u2014 though its codename reportedly contained a certain expletive in place of \u201cfalcon.\u201d Renaming BFR to Starship \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2018 Super Heavy In a follow-up tweet, Musk points out that the \u201cStarship\u201d itself is the \u201cspaceship\/upper stage\u201d while the gigantic rocket booster required to leave Earth\u2019s gravitational pull will be called \u201cSuper Heavy.\u201d The latter is likely a reference to the SpaceX\u2019s Falcon Heavy booster, currently the rocket with the highest payload capacity of any rocket in operation. Continue reading Super Heavy<\/h2>
“Delightfully Counter-Intuitive”<\/h2>
Elon Musk Just Changed the BFR’s Name for a Fourth Time<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"