4 ms·

Makes you wonder about the quality of the product coming off the SpaceX line.

by idlewords 3y ago

drpossum 3y ago
I mean, it's not like spacex rockets are exploding regularly or anything.
- mavhc 3y ago
  Only the test ones, the finished ones have been re-flown 19 times, that's 19 more times than most rockets. Starship is the largest rocket to launch to orbit, it didn't land again, but neither has any other non SpaceX rocket
  - MrSkelter 3y ago
    Starship didn’t reach orbit. Starship isn’t a development of Falcon, it’s a new platform. You can’t use the performance of one to excuse the failure of another. Reuse is also meaningless without a public audit of what is done to turn them round. That’s not been shared.
    - tekla 3y ago
      Starship didnt reach orbit because they purposefully shut the engines down early. It was literally seconds from reaching a stable orbit before MECO. > Reuse is also meaningless without a public audit of what is done to turn them round. Do you think SpaceX makes money out of thin air and thus can launch rockets using made up money?
    - mavhc 3y ago
      Why should it be public, SpaceX is a private company. However Space X offer cheaper flights than everyone else, so unless they're losing money, it's not expensive to reuse them. It didn't reach orbit on purpose, it can with 1% more thrust. Who said it failed, it's the largest rocket ever to reach orbit (unless you're super picky, in which case wait 2 months) It's built by the same people who did Falcon, so it's likely to be as good. Also they're specifically designing it to not be over engineered, because Rocket Equation.
- roywiggins 3y ago
  their production rockets don't: https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/spacexs-falcon-9-rocket-has-set-a-record-for-most-consecutive-successes/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/spacexs-falcon-9-roc...
  - jorvi 3y ago
    > Remarkably, this will be the sixth Falcon 9 launch in less than eight days, more flights than SpaceX's main US rival, United Launch Alliance, has launched in 17 months. Talk about being ahead..
r00fus 3y ago
SpaceX (ie, Shotwell) have insulated themselves very effectively from Elon's crazy.
- whamlastxmas 3y ago
  Elon is more involved with spacex than anything else
  - r00fus 3y ago
    It's not where he's involved, it's how he's involved. He's a terrible leader. At SpaceX Gwynne runs the show, she's a strong hand at the tiller. In his other two companies, no one can check him so his instability ruins things.
    - whamlastxmas 3y ago
      This is factually not true
- idlewords 3y ago
  He's the company's Chief Technical Officer.
greedo 3y ago
Seriously? I'm as critical of Elon as anyone, but SpaceX is knocking it out of the park. Falcon is arguably the most reliable launcher ever created, and one of the most affordable. There's simply no contest. SpaceX could sit on their laurels for a decade and the rest of the worldwide space industry might catch up. But Starship will give them a further advantage that might last a century.

Makes you wonder about the quality of the product coming off the SpaceX line.

drpossum 3y ago

I mean, it's not like spacex rockets are exploding regularly or anything.

mavhc 3y ago
Only the test ones, the finished ones have been re-flown 19 times, that's 19 more times than most rockets. Starship is the largest rocket to launch to orbit, it didn't land again, but neither has any other non SpaceX rocket
- MrSkelter 3y ago
  Starship didn’t reach orbit. Starship isn’t a development of Falcon, it’s a new platform. You can’t use the performance of one to excuse the failure of another. Reuse is also meaningless without a public audit of what is done to turn them round. That’s not been shared.
  - tekla 3y ago
    Starship didnt reach orbit because they purposefully shut the engines down early. It was literally seconds from reaching a stable orbit before MECO. > Reuse is also meaningless without a public audit of what is done to turn them round. Do you think SpaceX makes money out of thin air and thus can launch rockets using made up money?
  - mavhc 3y ago
    Why should it be public, SpaceX is a private company. However Space X offer cheaper flights than everyone else, so unless they're losing money, it's not expensive to reuse them. It didn't reach orbit on purpose, it can with 1% more thrust. Who said it failed, it's the largest rocket ever to reach orbit (unless you're super picky, in which case wait 2 months) It's built by the same people who did Falcon, so it's likely to be as good. Also they're specifically designing it to not be over engineered, because Rocket Equation.
roywiggins 3y ago
their production rockets don't: https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/spacexs-falcon-9-rocket-has-set-a-record-for-most-consecutive-successes/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/spacexs-falcon-9-roc...
- jorvi 3y ago
  > Remarkably, this will be the sixth Falcon 9 launch in less than eight days, more flights than SpaceX's main US rival, United Launch Alliance, has launched in 17 months. Talk about being ahead..

r00fus 3y ago

SpaceX (ie, Shotwell) have insulated themselves very effectively from Elon's crazy.

whamlastxmas 3y ago
Elon is more involved with spacex than anything else
- r00fus 3y ago
  It's not where he's involved, it's how he's involved. He's a terrible leader. At SpaceX Gwynne runs the show, she's a strong hand at the tiller. In his other two companies, no one can check him so his instability ruins things.
  - whamlastxmas 3y ago
    This is factually not true
idlewords 3y ago
He's the company's Chief Technical Officer.

greedo 3y ago

Seriously? I'm as critical of Elon as anyone, but SpaceX is knocking it out of the park. Falcon is arguably the most reliable launcher ever created, and one of the most affordable. There's simply no contest. SpaceX could sit on their laurels for a decade and the rest of the worldwide space industry might catch up. But Starship will give them a further advantage that might last a century.