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Genuine question: how important is the launch window when you start thinking about bulk transport to Mars? If you build thousands of starships, how much does it

• qayxc 5y ago
  > how important is the launch window when you start thinking about bulk transport to Mars? Launch windows aren't just about time of travel. They are primarily about the energy required to get to your target. You can in principle launch to anywhere at any given moment, but the required energy will be much higher. So high in fact, that a Starship-type spacecraft would be unable to make the trip due to lack of fuel. Hyperbolic trajectories require higher energies and the exact amount involves solving partial differential equations that depend on the exact orbital configuration (i.e. date and location of launch), so I cannot provide a general answer as to how much more fuel would be required. Suffices to say it would take more fuel than a Starship is able to carry and a hyperbolic trajectory would require en-route refuelling, which is basically impossible since the tankers/fuel depot would have to move at the same speed.