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Orbital refueling is a huge game changer. Interestingly, a formerly important politician (Senator Richard Shelby) allegedly hated the concept: https://arstechn
by inglor_cz 3y ago
Orbital refueling is a huge game changer. Interestingly, a formerly important politician (Senator Richard Shelby) allegedly hated the concept:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/rocket-scientist-says-that-boeing-squelched-work-on-propellant-depots/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/rocket-scientist-say...
There is another thing sets apart Starship from other launch systems: relatively wide availability/manufacturability of its fuel outside of Earth. You won't find kerosene or hypergols on Mars or Ganymedes, but methane can be produced fairly straightforwardly there.
- bryanlarsen 3y agoMany other rockets work on hydrogen, which is far easier to synthesize than methane.
- inglor_cz 3y agoNot easier to handle, though. Keeping methane in a tank or moving it across some distance is fairly straightforward, as the problems regarding natural gas storage and transportation were solved a long time ago. Hydrogen is notoriously tricky to even keep in one place, much less pipe across some distance.