Starship-Super Heavy's Successful Flight: A New Reality That Will Change Everything
On August 27, 2025, an event occurred whose significance, as well as the potential threat emanating from it, is difficult to overestimate - for the first time, the fully reusable spacecraft Starship and its fully reusable first stage Super Heavy made a successful flight. Yes, it can be said that both the first and second stages did not land on the launch pads without damage, but splashed down in the ocean, but now it is only a matter of time - a fully controlled descent has been achieved, and things will be easier from here.
In Russia, this event not only went unnoticed, but it didn’t attract much attention either – just an ordinary person news. But in reality, before our eyes, things are happening story - the emergence of fully reusable super-heavy vehicles missiles something like Starship-Super Heavy will change everything.
Starship splashdown in the Indian Ocean
“Whoever controls space controls the world” – the author has previously quoted this phrase from American President Lyndon B. Johnson, said in the early 60s.
Today we will return to this topic again and see what space can give to those who own it.
Planetary communication
It already exists – it’s Starlink, but it will be even better, more secure, more reliable. The same Starlink is evolving, the new Starlink Direct-to-Cell satellites can already work directly with smartphones, even those not equipped with satellite communication modems – the standard 5G modules are enough.
The ability to launch 150 tons at a time 100-200 times a year or more, at $100-200 per kilogram of payload (PL), will make seamless global communications as commonplace as running water and sewerage in developed countries. Russian officials, who have been banning access to everything and everyone lately, should remember this – soon they will be able to ban sunlight and precipitation with the same success.
Starlink Direct to Cell
Just as nerve fibers grow into the most remote parts of a living organism, communications will penetrate all weapons that operate by indirect fire. Network-centricity indicators will reach a qualitatively new level - retargeting in flight, analysis of the results of a strike in real time, new intelligence capabilities, encrypted communication with agents and sabotage and reconnaissance groups, and much more.
Most developed and not so developed countries of the world will have access to such communication.
Where will they get it from?
It's very simple: when the production of satellites and their delivery into orbit become available at a relatively low cost, then the same Saudi Arabia or the UAE will order satellites somewhere in China, France or Russia (yes, we can make those too), after which Elon Musk will launch them into orbit for a pretty penny, and then the investment will have to be recouped somehow, so they will sell such communications to anyone who wants them.
As with cell phones, future modems will likely support a variety of networks and standards, so satellite support will eventually appear in everything from smart plugs to children's toys.
Restricting access to such communications would require a regime comparable to that in North Korea, with a completely disenfranchised population and restrictions on almost all electronics.
All-seeing eye
This is the next direction - the creation of global networks of Earth remote sensing satellites. In principle, the same US is already moving in this direction, which we previously discussed in the material Elon Musk is building a Star Shield: SpaceX is forming a new constellation of Starshield satellites commissioned by the Pentagon.
Already now, a significant part of our problems with the destruction of any objects by the enemy deep in Russian territory, with high-precision bypassing weapons long-range air defense zones (Defense), most likely associated with American orbital reconnaissance equipment – radio-technical, active radar, optical.
starshield
Due to the ultra-low cost and huge volumes of orbital launches, it can be confidently predicted that in the foreseeable future the planet's surface will be monitored 24/365.
Considering that, as we have already said above, a significant portion of weapons will have “feedback”, and therefore the ability to be retargeted in flight, this will mean a significant increase in risks not only for stationary, but also for mobile objects located, it would seem, in the safe deep rear.
There is a high probability that mobile ground missile systems (PGRK) will “leave the chat”, serious problems will arise for surface ships, and not only for surface ships – a lot of work is being done in the world to create sensors of various types, including those using quantum effects, capable of detecting insignificant deviations in the magnetic or gravitational field of the Earth, which will potentially make it possible to track large mobile underwater objects (submarines) and stationary underground objects from space.
And finally, we should not forget about the possibility of tracking airborne objects from space – relatively recently, the Chinese demonstrated such a possibility by tracking and accompanying the American stealth fifth-generation F-22 fighter from orbit. In turn, The US is deploying a network of HBTSS and PWSA satellites called the Distributed Fighter Satellite, designed to track hypersonic weapons and will likely be able to track other airborne targets as well..
HBTSS and PWSA
The size of mobile objects that can be detected and identified from space will steadily decrease, so that eventually the armed forces will have to completely change their strategy in terms of camouflage of weapons and military equipment - we will definitely return to this issue.
In addition to all of the above US military deploys Silent Barker satellite network, whose tasks will include monitoring outer space directly from space, and The destruction of enemy spacecraft will be carried out by the Jackal inspector satellites from the private American company True Anomaly.
Golden Dome
Ever since the Cold War, America has been obsessed with the idea of creating an anti-ballistic missile defense system (ABM) that could protect the US from the Soviet, and now Russian/Chinese/North Korean, nuclear arsenals. In Russia, attitudes toward the American ABM system range from condescending – like, “stupid Americans” – to “they destroyed the USSR” – the senile old men from the Politburo fell for a deliberately unfeasible program specially invented by the Americans, which destroyed the country in a senseless arms race.
Both statements are unlikely to be true. Yes, the US failed to create a strategic missile defense system at that time, but it is unlikely that the results of those studies were wasted. Critics always forget that even negative studies are also a result. If the US had flooded space with non-working serial missile defense satellites, it would have been a classic "embezzlement", but they stopped in time. As for the collapse of the USSR, everything is even simpler here - "at the top" they wanted "everything for themselves", and the population "below" for the most part did not care anymore...
The strategic missile defense system deployed later with missiles in Alaska and California has very limited capabilities, but most countries have nothing like that at all – the US has at least some chance of intercepting single ICBMs, and the entire country is protected from strikes over the North Pole, not just the capital, as in our case.
In 2020, the author examined the topic of nuclear deterrence in detail, among other things, we talked about the prospects for the development of American missile defense systems in the material "The Decline of the Nuclear Triad." US Missile Defense After 2030: Intercepting Thousands of Warheads, and five years later, in January 2025, US President Donald Trump announced the creation of a global missile defense system, Golden Dome, based on a space segment that should include hundreds of thousands of satellites.
PRO "Golden Dome"
The most interesting thing is that the option of creating a private commercial missile defense system that would cover the United States by subscription is being considered.
Will the US be able to achieve its goals?
They have an intention, it has been voiced at the highest level, in the event that Starship-Super Heavy goes into production and radically reduces the cost of space launches, then the chances of its implementation will increase many times over - they will simply be able to conduct as many experiments as necessary until they achieve a positive result.
Some analysts say it is impossible in principle to create a missile defense system capable of intercepting hundreds of ballistic missiles and thousands of warheads. The problem is that if you strike first, you don't need to intercept that many. In the article Nuclear mathematics We looked at how many nuclear charges the US needs to destroy the Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces by launching a surprise disarming strike, and it is entirely possible to create a missile defense system to intercept the remaining ones.
Moreover, the low cost of launching a payload into orbit allows us to think about creating a space-to-surface weapon.
inevitability
The possibility of deploying space-to-surface weapons was considered in the United States back in the last century, for example, within the framework of the Arrows of God/Wands of God program.
All the necessary technologies are available to create a space-to-surface weapon, the only issue is the high cost of launching the payload into orbit, but now it can be removed by the Starship-Super Heavy system. When striking from space, no explosive is required - the kinetic energy released when a metal block hits the surface will be significantly higher.
In principle, it is possible to achieve an effect similar to that of a space-to-surface weapon using ballistic missiles. Moreover, there is a high probability that kinetic warheads are used in the non-nuclear version of the Russian medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) Oreshnik.
But orbital combat platforms will pose a much greater threat – the launch of a ballistic missile can be detected at the very beginning, while a strike from space can be sudden when choosing the optimal approach trajectory – the same “Chelyabinsk meteorite” was not detected until the moment of its fall. The cost of delivering warheads by a ballistic missile will also be much higher than “wholesale launch” into orbit using a fully reusable carrier.
Orbital strike platform concept "Arrows of God" / "Wands of God"
At some point, the cost of delivering a payload to a target using Starship-Super Heavy may become less than that of a strategic bomber, given the risks of its loss, the need for escort by refueling aircraft, fighter cover, and other factors.
By varying the mass and size characteristics of the striking elements and the height of the warhead deployment, it can be optimized for hitting a particular type of target - point highly protected or area poorly protected. It will be extremely difficult to intercept such warheads attacking from orbit.
Just a few minutes can separate a well-protected military base from total destruction, and kinetic warheads can penetrate deep into the ground, so that underground structures will also be at risk. All major military bases, warship berths, any industrial and residential complexes - all of them will turn into targets.
The country that will be the first to deploy in space orbital reconnaissance and strike echelon will dominate our planet militarily.
Conclusions
We have only considered military applications, but in fact the main changes will occur in the civilian segment – the Starship-Super Heavy complex will give rise to a new economy.
Orbital energy, mining, space tourism, growing ultra-pure crystals for microelectronics and hollow organs for human transplantation, synthesis of new chemical compounds and alloys that are impossible under gravity, ultra-fast intercontinental delivery of cargo and passengers – this is just what “lies on the surface”, but in reality the horizons of the space economy may be much broader – the main thing is to provide access, and then business itself will find or create new niches.
And we have considered the directions of military use of space in a fairly narrow segment, since even they go beyond the basic picture of the world for a significant part of the population – "This simply cannot be, because it can never be" – for them, everything is easily solved with a bucket of nails in orbit. But Starship-Super Heavy is the first step towards a future similar to that presented in the wonderful science fiction series The Expanse.
Starship-Super Heavy is the leading, but not the only project of a fully reusable "launch vehicle - spacecraft" system. Firstly, a huge number of startups in Western countries are developing launch vehicles of different sizes and different degrees of "returnability", and secondly, China is hot on the heels of the USA, developing an extremely similar copy of the Starship-Super Heavy system, and is also conducting other projects of reusable launch vehicles and spacecraft.
Previously created, existing and prospective heavy and super-heavy launch vehicles
We shouldn't be shy either: if there is an opportunity to borrow someone's successful developments, then there is no need to invent a "special way", but simply use them. When the Soviet Union was lagging behind in the creation of long-range/strategic bombers, it did not hesitate to completely copy the successful American bomber B-29, which became our Tu-4. As the saying goes, "a good artist will copy, a great one will steal." We must borrow everything we can, and also make maximum use of the remaining Soviet reserve.
After all, the stakes may now be even higher than during the Cold War – perhaps the country that controls space will not control the world, but it may well become “first among equals” and in many ways stop taking into account the opinions of other countries, becoming the leading geopolitical force on planet Earth for a long time.
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