Differences between Dragon and Starship

"Dragon" and "Starship" are two different spacecraft developed by SpaceX for different purposes within their broader vision of space exploration. Here's a comparison of the two:

Dragon:

1. Dragon 1: The original Dragon spacecraft was developed to deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. Dragon 1 was an uncrewed cargo spacecraft and had no provisions for human passengers.
2. Dragon 2 (Crew Dragon): Dragon 2, also known as Crew Dragon, is an upgraded version designed for both cargo and crew missions. It is capable of carrying astronauts to and from the ISS. Crew Dragon is designed for safe and reliable human spaceflight, featuring modern technology, advanced life-support systems, and emergency abort capabilities.
3. Use: Dragon spacecraft are primarily used for crewed and uncrewed missions to the ISS under NASA's Commercial Crew and Commercial Resupply Services programs.

Starship:

1. Starship: Starship is SpaceX's next-generation fully reusable spacecraft designed for a variety of missions, including crewed space travel, satellite deployment, interplanetary travel, and potentially even lunar and Mars missions. Starship consists of two stages: the Super Heavy booster (first stage) and the Starship spacecraft (second stage). First flight test was conducted on 20 April 2023 at 11:33 pm AEST.
2. Interplanetary Travel: One of the primary goals of Starship is to enable human space travel to destinations beyond Earth, such as the Moon and Mars. Elon Musk envisions Starship as the vehicle that will carry humans to Mars and establish a self-sustaining colony there.
3. Capacity: Starship is designed to carry a large number of passengers and payloads. It has the potential to carry up to 100 people or more, along with substantial cargo.
4. Reusability: Reusability is a key feature of Starship. Both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft are designed to be fully reusable, which is intended to significantly reduce the cost of space travel.