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Its still an issue because they haven't really confidently demonstrated a relight of the engines while flying. Hot staging avoids a relight, but they still nee
by XorNot 3y ago
Its still an issue because they haven't really confidently demonstrated a relight of the engines while flying.
Hot staging avoids a relight, but they still need to do it.
It does mean they technically have an expendable heavy launch vehicle though.
- hughes 3y agoThe boostback burn demonstrated relight today.
- Daneel_ 3y agoThe key demonstration is “relight in a vacuum”, which was the test that was skipped late in the stream. If you can do this then deorbiting is possible. Relight of the booster doesn’t demonstrate this, unfortunately.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- hagbard_c 3y ago> It does mean they technically have an expendable heavy launch vehicle though. That is how they started using Falcon 9 as well: first expendable but testing recovery - which failed several times in several interesting ways - until that process was refined into what now seems to be a normal thing: the first stage launches, drops off a second stage, turns around and makes its way back to either the launch site or a floating platform. I assume they have the same plans for this system: launch expendable while using the hardware to refine the process of recovery until in not that many years from now they launch and land and launch again.