Starship· guided tour

Flaps

the wings that are not wings

Four flaps, two near the nose and two near the base, tilt to steer the ship as it falls through the air, doing the job wings would do on a plane.

How many
4
Forward pair
Near the nose
Aft pair
Near the engines
How it works

A rocket needs no wings in the vacuum of space, and carrying them there and back would be dead weight. Flaps that only matter in air let Starship skip wings, a tail and a runway altogether.

For the grown-up

Two forward flaps on the payload bay and two aft flaps mounted beside the engine bay and tank, together replacing wings or a tailplane, reducing the propellant a landing needs, and allowing landings anywhere with no runway.

SpaceX Starship