“Current plan is to increase base Raptor thrust to ~230 tons or ~500 million lbs & increase booster engine count to 32 or 33. All Raptors on booster, whether fixed or gimbaling, would be the same. 33*230 gets ~7600 tons of thrust & T/W of ~1.5.” //

“Center engines on ship will be same as booster engines. This is basically Raptor 2. Raptor Vacuum would be only variant. Tbd as to whether to commonize R-Vac with Raptor 2 (more thrust), keep same or tighten throat (more Isp). Adding 3 more R-Vac to ship with max Isp maybe …” //

SpaceX’s website shows the previous plan was for the Super Heavy to offer thrust of 16 million pounds. Musk’s comments suggest this figure could reach 17 million pounds.

By comparison, the most powerful rocket to ever fly was the Saturn V. It last flew in 1973, and generated just 7.6 million pounds of thrust. //

"Mass of initial SN ships will be a little high & Isp a little low, but, over time, it will be ~150t to LEO fully reusable.”

For Mars missions, the more important information could be that “T/W” of 1.5. The thrust-to-weight ratio shows how the thrust compares to the weight of the vehicle itself. Unlike an aircraft that takes off horizontally, a rocket that launches vertically needs its thrust to be higher than its weight. The higher thrust-to-weight, the greater acceleration. //

“T/W will be ~1.5, so it will accelerate unusually fast. High T/W is important for reusable vehicles to make more efficient use of propellant, the primary cost. For expendable rockets, throwing away stages is the primary cost, so optimization is low T/W.” //

November 2018 — BFR, first announced in September 2017, gets renamed to Starship.
December 2018 — Musk confirms the new ship has switched to stainless steel.
January 2019 — Shortened “Starhopper” prototype unveiled and Musk explains the switch to steel.
February 2019 — Raptor engine beats a long-standing rocket record.
April 2019 — Starhopper completes a tethered “hop.”
July 2019 — Starhopper launches 20 meters (67 feet).
August 2019 — Starhopper launches 150 meters (500 feet).
September 2019 — Starship Mk.1 full-size prototype unveiled.
May 2020 — Starship SN4 full-size prototype completes a static test fire.
August 2020 — SN5 launches 150 meters (500 feet).
October 2020 — SN8 completes the first triple-Raptor static fire.
December 2020 — SN8 launches 12.5 kilometers (41,000 feet) and crashes into the ground.
February 2021 — SN9 launches 10 kilometers (33,000 feet) and crashes into the ground.
March 2021 — SN10 launches 10 kilometers (33,000 feet), lands, and explodes eight minutes later. That same month, SN11 launches 10 kilometers (33,000 feet) and hits the ground in several pieces.
May 2021 — SN15 launches 10 kilometers (33,000 feet) and lands without a hitch, except for a small fire at the base.