Been a bit of talk lately about boots on the Moon, especially around the use of Starship HLS. Even people who would normally say things like 'don't bet against Elon' seem to be faltering, which is strange after how successful the last Starship test flight was.
An entire Moon Colony could be built with only six (6) Starships, and it could probably start in 2027.
Why Six (6) Starships? - Because that is all you need.
Due to the design of the Starship, and its versatility, a continuous Moon mission can be undertaken with only 6 Starships:
1 x Moonbase
1 x Lunar Lander Shuttle
1 x Lunar Orbital Station
1 x LLO to LEO Transfer Shuttle
2 x Cargo Haulers
This count does not include refuel ships in LEO as SpaceX's infrastructure is to have refueling depots in LEO used for various missions, not just this one.
How?
This is possible because the old V3 Starship, which is more like the proposed V4 Starship, can handle everything needed. Rest assured, one version of Starship will be able to do it.
With a 100-ton payload, the old Starship V3 could theoretically provide just enough delta-V (8.58 km/s) to match the mission requirements (8.5 km/s) for a round trip to the Moon, landing, staying for two weeks, and returning to LEO without refueling.
