Aphelion Mars Program
Window 2031 · Transfer orbit 259 days

Flights
to Mars

A fully reusable heavy-lift vehicle built for one purpose: moving people and cargo between two planets on a fixed schedule.

Scroll to launch
Pad 41-B nominal·Static fire complete·Crew 6 assigned·Next window T-412 days·Booster 14 recovered·
Pad 41-B nominal·Static fire complete·Crew 6 assigned·Next window T-412 days·Booster 14 recovered·

Built to
fly again

Every stage returns. The booster lands on the pad it left, the ship lands on the surface it was built for, and both fly again inside a week. Reuse is not a feature of the vehicle. It is the vehicle.

Engine cluster
01 — Raptor-class cluster · 33 engines
Ship in orbit
02 — Parking orbit · propellant transfer
121m
Stack height
150t
Payload to orbit
6
Crew per ship
259d
Transit time
Exploded view · stack 121m

Six parts,
one vehicle

000
  • 01 Nose fairingAeroshell
  • 02 Crew cabin1,000 m³
  • 03 Upper tankCH₄ / LOX
  • 04 InterstageHot-stage ring
  • 05 BoosterReflight ×7
  • 06 Engine bay33 × Raptor
T+02:41 · Hot-stage separation · 68 km

It comes
apart on cue

Velocity — 0 m/s
Altitude — 0 km
Separation — armed
Booster return
Return & reflight

Eight minutes
back home

The booster separates at 68 km, flips, and burns back to the tower. It is caught, inspected, and stacked again. Fourteen vehicles have flown a combined ninety-one missions.

Full specification →

Specification

Thrust at liftoff74,400 kNSea level
PropellantLiquid methane / LOXFull-flow staged
Pressurised volume1,000 m³Crew configuration
LandingTower catch / surface legsPropulsive
Turnaround6 daysBooster, measured
03 — Engine bay teardown · 33 × Raptor

Two crew per cabin, six per ship, five ships per window. The first fleet leaves together and lands within an hour of each other.

Fleet doctrine · rev 4
Orbit pass · full teardown

Every part,
on its own

000
6 assemblies · 33 nozzles · 121 m stacked Stacked
Martian surface
Landing site · Arcadia Planitia

Somewhere
flat and cold

Shallow ice under a metre of regolith, low elevation for aerobraking, and a horizon you can land on. The first two ships carry no crew. They carry power, water plant, and the propellant to come back.

Manifest · Window 2031

Reserve
a seat

Applications for the first crewed window close when the fleet is assigned. Deposit is refundable until stacking.

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Gateway Designs