5 ms·
Smaller diameter rockets have a much worse fuel ratio (because of fuel tank geometry issues), so there’s no way they’ll ever be cheaper than larger rockets. The
by elil17 7y ago
Smaller diameter rockets have a much worse fuel ratio (because of fuel tank geometry issues), so there’s no way they’ll ever be cheaper than larger rockets. They fundamentally must use more fuel per kg of payload than large rockets because fuel tank wet mass to dry mass ratio increases linearly with diameter.
- DuskStar 7y agoRight, and that's why smallsat launchers are only really viable for orbits/launches that can't be served by rideshares. Better to pay $5mil for an Electron to launch your smallsat than to book an entire Falcon 9, even if the $/kg is far higher.
- greglindahl 7y agoCompanies like Momentus [1] are happy to sell you a tug that will turn a rideshare to a common orbit into your unusual orbit. SpaceX's rate for an Electron-sized payload is 1/6 the price of an Electron. 1: https://momentus.space/ https://momentus.space/
- DuskStar 7y agoI have to say, 5 km/s delta v is more than I was expecting from a tug like that. Still, I really wouldn't be surprised if adding one of those to your smallsat would cost more than $5m.