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Crucially, unlike a Saturn V, every part of which except the capsule containing the crew was thrown away during the course of a mission, a Starship will be fully recyclable, with both stages returning to Earth in a manner similar to SN8. Moreover, unlike Saturn's partially recyclable successor, the Space Shuttle, refurbishing a Starship for relaunch will not cost $1bn a pop. Instead, Mr Musk estimates, the turnaround will require only a few million dollars.
最主要的是，土星5號在執行任務的過程中除了載有宇航員的太空艙外其他部分都會被丟棄，而星際飛船和土星5號不同，它可以被完全回收，兩個階段都會以類似SN8的方式返回地球。此外，與土星的部分可回收的繼任者“太空梭”不同，星際飛船為重啟而進行翻新所花費的費用不到10億美元。相反，馬斯克估計，整個翻新只需花費幾百萬美元。
Starships should also be cheap to build. Instead of a fancy carbon-fibre composite they are made of stainless steel, which is a seventieth as expensive, but is, in many ways, better. Not only is it resistant to the fracturing to which a composite might be prone in the low temperatures of outer space, but its melting-point is also high enough to prevent damage in the fiery conditions of re-entry. This is an important part of a Starship's easy recyclability.
星際飛船的建造成本應該也很低。它們用不銹鋼代替了花哨的碳纖維復合材料，不銹鋼的價格雖是碳纖維復合材料的70倍，但它在很多方面的表現確實比碳纖維復合材料要材料更加優質。它不僅能抵抗復合材料在外層空間的低溫下可能發生的破裂，而且它的熔點也足夠高，可以防止飛船在重返大氣層的高溫條件下被破壞。這是星際飛船易于回收利用的一個重要原因。
When an entire Starship will fly is still anyone's guess. Mr Musk has a good record of doing what he says, but his timings have a tendency to slip. For a man who famously once said his ambition was to die on Mars, but not on impact, the Starship project is an important step on the road to his intended retirement home. Bases on the Moon or Mars would need frequent resupply from Earth. That would be made easier by highpowered reusable rockets. Mr Musk has, himself, put the odds of SN8's flight being successful at three to one against. If it does succeed, however, the odds against his wider vision of the future coming true will shorten.
誰也說不準整艘星際飛船什么時候能飛起來。馬斯克一向有言出必行的良好記錄，但時間往往會走偏。對于一個曾經說過自己的夙愿是死在火星上而不是死在撞擊上的人來說，星際飛船計劃是他通往退休之家的重要一步。月球或火星上的基地需要頻繁從地球獲得補給，高功率可重復使用的火箭將使這一點變得更加容易。馬斯克自己認為SN8飛行成功的幾率是3:1。然而，如果成功了，實現他對未來更廣闊愿景的幾率將會增加。
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