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Every pound of weight you add to the rocket is a pound of payload that you can't put into space.
by bryananderson 9y ago
Every pound of weight you add to the rocket is a pound of payload that you can't put into space.
- JshWright 9y agoIt's not technically 1:1 on the first stage. It varies a bit from launcher to launcher, but it's in the ballpark of 4:1 (you lose a pound of useful payload for every four pounds you add to the first stage). Your point is spot on though. Don't waste mass to account for failure modes that you can just avoid in the first place by landing upright.