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Rockets landing was never considered impossible, NASA even built and tested several such vehicles long ago. What was determined is that is is not economically v
by sschueller 4y ago
Rockets landing was never considered impossible, NASA even built and tested several such vehicles long ago. What was determined is that is is not economically viable which even SpaceX has started to realize on some launches where they ditch the landing in order to be able to carry more payload.
The launch pad at Cape Canaveral may not be exactly what Starship needs but it would be a good start. Like flame trenches and placing the fuel storage tanks far enough away from the launch pad.
- George83728 4y ago> What was determined is is not economically viable which even SpaceX has started to realize on some launches where they ditch the landing in order to be able to carry more payload. SpaceX hasn't "started to realize" that, they always knew that some F9 launches would be fully expendable and they've been occasionally expending F9 boosters from the start. Not because there's something wrong with the economics of booster reuse generally, but because expending a booster is sometimes (not usually) worth it to get more mass into orbit (roughly double to GTO with Falcon Heavy if they expend the core stage.) That extra performance was always known to be required for some payloads, but isn't required for most payloads.