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I don't think they have even attempted to build a large engine. But SpaceX is setup like an assembly line rather than some bespoke engine maker. A larger engine
by karmicthreat 5y ago
I don't think they have even attempted to build a large engine. But SpaceX is setup like an assembly line rather than some bespoke engine maker. A larger engine would require larger tooling, 3d printers, etc. Also with 30+ engines its less of an investment if one goes bad, just swap it out.
They always have the option of designing another larger engine later.
- sigstoat 5y ago> Also with 30+ engines its less of an investment if one goes bad, just swap it out. also less bad to lose ~3.3% of your total thrust than 100% of it.
- usrusr 5y agoDepends on failure modes: many small engines rolling dice about losing thrust is nice, many small engines rolling dice about blowing up is not.