Standing two miles from Boca Chica Beach in South Texas is a 55-meter tall uncanny test article built by SpaceX. It’s no surprise that most watchers had believed it’s the construction of a large water tower during the project’s early stage. Starhopper doesn’t look like any current generation rocket by any measure or shape. Most strange of all, it’s made of stainless steel – a material that has largely fallen out of use for propellant tanks in statistics. With a minimum of 10.5% chromium content, steel’s rigidity is not in any doubt. B...
