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This is really bad. I don't know how much money they have left but I cannot imagine they can continue blowing up prototipes that took weeks to build every other
by dcabrejas 7y ago
This is really bad. I don't know how much money they have left but I cannot imagine they can continue blowing up prototipes that took weeks to build every other week like this.
- greedo 7y agoThese are relatively cheap prototypes. No engines, just the fuel tanks and body. Cheap stainless steel, fabricated in weeks. If this was Boeing, it'd set them back years. The whole idea is to crank out a steady stream of cheap prototypes to iterate design ideas and fixes rapidly.
- papito 7y agoAt most other companies you have a whole hierarchy of executives who want their bonuses, so you have that risk aversion where they will spend tremendous time and resources covering their asses first. Failure is failure, it's not just a step to more improvement in that world.
- tomxor 7y agoThis is not bad, this is how progress is made in this industry - These are not fully operational prototypes, they are parts fabricated purely for the purpose of testing the behavior of designs far beyond required limits, the purpose of these tests at this stage is to collect useful data not prove designs.
- 101404 7y agoThe Starship is made of steel. It costs only 3% of the price of the previous design. So they can burn through a lot of prototypes to improve design and manufacturing, before costs becomes an issue.