3 ms·
Potentially burn in atmosphere twice.
by 3327 6y ago
Potentially burn in atmosphere twice.
- inglor_cz 6y agoIt is my impression that suborbital jumps are much, much slower than a launch to the orbit and return from the orbit. That would mean that a Starship decelerating to the destination would not create a classic "ball of fire" in front of it and risk a burnup. Returning 1st stages of Falcon 9 do not require thermal protection either.
- peeters 6y agoI don't think they're as different in energy as you're thinking. "Suborbital" ranges from throwing a baseball 100ft to going almost into orbit, and going halfway around the earth is just shy of a circular orbit. It would be different if you were doing a short hop, but Starship is impractical for short hops.