Why SpaceX’s Starship Has 42 Engines: A Cosmic Joke With Serious Innovation

By Tobbias Mutunga

The Common Pulse | August 2025 

When Elon Musk’s SpaceX unveiled that its next-generation Starship rocket would be powered by 42 Raptor engines, the space community buzzed with speculation. Why such an oddly specific number? The answer is part engineering, part culture, and a big wink at science fiction fans.

The Hitchhiker’s Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything

In Douglas Adams’ cult classic The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a supercomputer named Deep Thought reveals that the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything is simply “42.” The number became an enduring symbol of cosmic humor, geek culture, and the idea that meaning can be found even in absurdity.

By choosing 42 engines, Musk and SpaceX aren’t just building rockets, they’re tapping into a shared cultural mythos that resonates with engineers, dreamers, and fans alike. It’s SpaceX’s playful nod to the philosophy that exploration is as much about curiosity and imagination as it is about mathematics and physics.

More Than a Joke: The Engineering Behind It

Of course, SpaceX isn’t making billion-dollar design decisions based on jokes alone. There’s serious engineering logic behind the choice:

• Redundancy and safety — With 42 engines, Starship can sustain the loss of several and still achieve orbit, making launches more reliable.

• Scalability — Multiple smaller engines (Raptor engines produce ~230 tons of thrust each) allow modular upgrades, efficient clustering, and smoother thrust balancing.

• Power — Collectively, 42 Raptors generate more than twice the thrust of NASA’s Saturn V, making Starship the most powerful rocket ever built.

So while the number 42 is a pop culture Easter egg, it’s also rooted in serious engineering ambition.

Pop Culture Meets Innovation

This isn’t the first time Musk has blended pop culture with technology. SpaceX has launched a Tesla Roadster into space, named its landing ships Of Course I Still Love You and Just Read the Instructions (after Iain M. Banks’ sci-fi novels), and even referenced memes during rocket launches.

The 42-engine Starship is another step in this tradition, where space exploration isn’t just about hardware, but also about storytelling, community, and inspiration.

The Cosmic Significance

By linking the future of interplanetary travel to a beloved sci-fi reference, Musk is reminding us that space is not just a destination, it’s a story we tell together. For SpaceX, 42 engines aren’t just thrusting rockets to Mars, they’re carrying with them a culture of curiosity, humor, and boldness that has always fueled human exploration.

In the end, 42 engines on Starship are more than machinery. They’re a symbol that humanity’s greatest leaps are powered not just by science, but by imagination.