Starship catch.

[Methais]

Seran must be very upset right now.

[~Rocktar~]

This is the rocket booster that propels the shuttle into orbit, correct? Is it a big leap forward just because they no longer have to retrieve that out of the ocean when it lands? What else am I missing as someone who doesn’t keep up with this stuff regularly?

Couple of things. If you remember the Space Shuttle, it was supposed to be a space truck. Up, down, turn around, launch again in like 2-3 weeks. Well, due to stupidity, mission creep and of course, government fuckery, it was the most complex piece of machinery ever built by man and it took a lot more to turn around. Also, the boosters were somewhat reusable, the tank was not and often a lot of work had to be done on the shuttle to get it to fly the next mission.

Space X has been using smaller reusable boosters for some time and that has cut down the cost of space cargo a lot. Enough in fact to almost drive other providers out of the market.

The smaller boosters use landing leg systems built into the booster to land on, that means weight and complexity.

Weight means cost per launch. Every pound of liftoff weight costs money.

With this new, larger booster, using this capture system, it can lift more, doesn't need the landing legs weight, the control systems and hydraulics for those legs and so on. A massive weight savings. In addition, the booster is ready to head to the reconditioning facility without delay. Depending on how they set up the reconditioning, it could literally be cleaned, inspected, refueled and ready to launch another payload in a week.

Also, it's ready now, unlike the Orion system that NASA is working on. It can lift about 90% of the Orion system. With some clever work on payloads and so on, this gives Space X the ability to handle all or nearly all of the planned US space lift needs virtually indefinitely at a cost that could drop to as little as 10% of what it costs today to put loads into space. The Space shuttle could put 27 tons into orbit, Space X Starship can lift from 100-150 depending on flight plan.

Here is a picture to compare the sizes of the Saturn V (took us to the moon), the Space Shuttle and Starship.

[Neveragain]

This is the rocket booster that propels the shuttle into orbit, correct? Is it a big leap forward just because they no longer have to retrieve that out of the ocean when it lands? What else am I missing as someone who doesn’t keep up with this stuff regularly?

The goal is for 1 hour between T -0 and having new payload mounted on the return booster. From launch to catch it was about 5 minutes.

[Suppressed Poet]

Thanks all. Yeah that is a significant achievement.

[Shaps]

Remember though...

Elon is just a billionaire mean white guy, who hates people, is out of touch, is a danger to the US, and is just a poopy-head for buying Twitter. He's just a racist, misogynistic piece of shit...

Courtesy of the "Left"...

I have been trained properly... I just got back from the re-education camps... It was fantastic. #Kamala4Lyfe!

[~Rocktar~]

Remember though...

Elon is just a billionaire mean white guy, who hates people, is out of touch, is a danger to the US, and is just a poopy-head for buying Twitter. He's just a racist, misogynistic piece of shit...

Courtesy of the "Left"...

I have been trained properly... I just got back from the re-education camps... It was fantastic. #Kamala4Lyfe!

Stop hating on African-Americans you racist.