How big is Starship? How megarocket stacks up to SpaceX Falcon 9, New Glenn, other spacecraft

• Starship is the centerpiece of Musk's vision of sending the first humans to Mars, and is also critical in NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon's surface for the first time in five decades.
• The Starship, standing 403 feet tall when fully stacked, is regarded as the world’s largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever developed.
• Here's a look at how Starship compares to SpaceX's Falcon 9, Blue Origin's New Glenn and the United Launch Alliance's Vulcan.

How big is SpaceX's Starship rocket?

Big.

Very, very big.

So big, in fact, that the spacecraft has earned the designation as the world's largest rocket. To put it in relatable terms, at about 400 feet high, Starship is taller than a football field is long from endzone to endzone.

And when you compare the rocket's height to other U.S. spacecraft, including from SpaceX, the difference is even more pronounced. As the commercial rocket company founded by billionaire Elon Musk gears up to launch Starship on its 10th ever test flight from South Texas, you may reasonably be wondering what all the fuss is about with this so-called "mega rocket."

Wonder no more.

Here's a look at how Starship compares to other rockets that are often in the news: SpaceX's Falcon 9, Blue Origin's New Glenn and the United Launch Alliance's Vulcan.

What is Starship? SpaceX mega rocket bound one day for Mars

SpaceX is developing Starship to be a fully reusable transportation system, meaning the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions.

In the years ahead, Starship is set to serve a pivotal role in future U.S. spaceflight. Starship is the centerpiece of Musk's vision of sending the first humans to Mars, and is also critical in NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon's surface for the first time in five decades.

NASA's lunar exploration plans call for Artemis III astronauts aboard the Orion capsule to board the Starship while in orbit for a ride to the moon's surface.

Musk, though, is more preoccupied with Starship reaching Mars – potentially, he has claimed, by the end of 2026. Under his vision, human expeditions aboard the Starship could then follow in the years after the first uncrewed spacecraft reaches the Red Planet.

How big is Starship? What to know about world's largest rocket

The Starship, standing 403 feet tall when fully stacked, is regarded as the world’s largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever developed.

When fully integrated, the launch system is composed of both a 232-foot Super Heavy rocket and the 171-foot upper stage Starship itself, the spacecraft where crew and cargo would ride.

Super Heavy alone is powered by 33 of SpaceX’s Raptor engines that give the initial burst of thrust at liftoff. The upper stage Starship section is powered by six Raptor engines that will ultimately travel in orbit.

How Starship compares to Falcon 9, Blue Origin New Glenn, ULA Vulcan

That size means Starship towers over SpaceX's other famous rocket, the 230-foot-tall Falcon 9. The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket is one of the most active in the world – routinely launching astronauts on missions to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Falcon 9 is also the launch system vehicle used to deploy SpaceX's internet-beaming Starlink satellites into orbit from both Florida and the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The United Launch Alliance's newVulcanrocket, which launched earlier in August on a national security mission from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, is slightly smaller than the Falcon 9. At 202 feet tall, Vulcan is highly configurable – able to fly with anywhere from zero to six solid rocket boosters in addition to its main booster for additional liftoff power.

Vulcan's Centaur V upper stage is what powers the spacecraft to reach such extreme orbital heights after separation.

Otherwise, Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket is the only spacecraft that comes close to rivaling Starship in size. The 322-foot-tall launch vehicle is still early in development and has only flown on one test mission in January from Florida.

When is the next Starship launch from Starbase, Texas?

SpaceX plans to conduct the 10th flight test of its Starship spacecraft Sunday, Aug. 24, with a target liftoff time of 6:30 p.m. CT.

SpaceX conducts Starship test flights from the company's Starbase headquarters in South Texas, located about 23 miles from Brownsville and about 180 miles south of Corpus Christi. Texas voters in Cameron County approved a measure in May for Starbase to become a city, complete with a mayor and a city council.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]