5 ms·
If you ignore payload capacity, I'd say New Glenn is much closer to Starship than it is to Falcon 9 in terms of technical development, mostly because of its nov
by fastball 6y ago
If you ignore payload capacity, I'd say New Glenn is much closer to Starship than it is to Falcon 9 in terms of technical development, mostly because of its novel engine, the BE-4. Like the Starship's Raptors, they are powered by a fuel that can be produced in-situ at the intended destination. Though in the case of the Raptors it's Methalox from Martian atmosphere (via Sabatier), whereas BE-4 engines are Hydrolox that they hope to get from ice on the moon.
- philwelch 6y agoBE-4 is methalox. BE-3 and BE-7 are hydrolox.
- fastball 6y agoThanks for the correction, you're right, I was thinking about their Blue Moon lander, which is slated to have BE-7 engines.
- sushibowl 6y agoIs the BE-4 design really that new? The choice of fuel is of course novel. But apart from that, it seems to be an oxygen-rich staged combustion design, which was invented by the soviets... somewhere in the 60's?