Interesting..It is just a STUNNING statistic.
I have read about a few methods of getting the rocket moving by using external power- for example a gravity-powered "lift " with counterweight - and it seems worth a look with data like this! Would make a literally massive difference to payload capacity.
Thanks
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Interesting. So after using up 8% of fuel, assuming most of the weight is fuel, the thrust to weight ratio is about 1.3.
Ben W
Chess Grandmaster (Supervised)
Both Starship and Super Heavy already have load-bearing attachment points for the Chopsticks that could support their entire dry mass, which can in principle be used to push upwards with that amount of extra force on launch. Whether it's worth it, complexity-wise and engineering-wise, is a different question. At 1.2 T:W, probably. At 1.5 T:W, maybe not. The push would only offset a small fraction of the liftoff mass for just a couple seconds; hard to know if that makes a meaningful difference for ultimate payload capacity to orbit.
The big issue is the complexity and risk/reliability/repeatability of such an augment to the first stage. That's a LOT of energy that needs to be released [to anti-gravity accelerate a loaded rocket to any materially useful degree], in a fairly short period of time, and with fairly high timing precision. It's certainly plausible...but simply launching another rocket is a far more practical way to get more payload to orbit.
Starship is already suffering from A380 syndrome...beyond starlink there's not a lot of upside in making it even more capable (and starlink can still very much benefit from the KISS approach of "just launch another rocket" anyway). It's already very oversized certainly for any satellite or really even constellations that's aren't something massive like Kuiper/Starlink, and it's interplanetary capability is such that multiple launches are basically imperative anyway (= needs to refuel).
FWIW, a 5m rocket let alone a Starship is also far too big to consider one of the other augmented solutions currently floating around--airplanes, balloons...and hucking something out the side of a centrifuge...
S24 was destacked last week and moved to the Rocket Garden. It has now had its lifting points (used when moved by a crane) removed so that the final TPS tiles can be placed on the nose in preparation for the orbital launch attempt. If you are about to ask how S24 is going to be lifted so it can be moved back to the OLM, it’s already on the stand that is used for road transport, so it does not need to be lifted by crane. It will be moved back to the launch site and the chopsticks will lift it back onto B7 after the upcoming static fire. That is, if all goes according to plan…
Road closures or today and tomorrow have been cancelled. Possible road closures this coming Friday, Monday, Tuesday.
Two Raptors were swapped on B7. Elon posted this photo last night, stating “Just leaving the engine bay of Starship”. It shows the raised platform used to swap engines when a booster is on the OLM. Also nicely shows how the OLM legs have been covered with protective metal cladding.
Two Raptors were swapped on B7. Elon posted this photo last night, stating “Just leaving the engine bay of Starship”. It shows the raised platform used to swap engines when a booster is on the OLM. Also nicely shows how the OLM legs have been covered with protective metal cladding.
Latest update from NSF. Work continues on and around Stage Zero. Water deluge hardware arrives via barge from KSC. Is SpaceX replacing the recently installed OLM water deluge system or is the new hardware for something else? We don’t know
Wait for it.... wait for it...
NasaSpaceFlight will be Tweeting and live streaming on YouTube. Can also play the 5 hour Lex Fridmen/ Tim Dodd interview as background...
Does Lex take 10 minutes of slow rambling to ask one question, or interrupt Tim while he’s giving a fascinating answer, or ask completely stupid irrelevant questions?
He let's Tim go into the details.
And an article about the test based on Shotwell's remarks:
Shotwell says SpaceX ready for Starship static-fire test
SpaceX will attempt a static-fire test of all 33 engines in its Starship booster as soon as Feb. 9, a test that could allow an orbital launch a month later.
spacenews.com
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