4 ms·

I really like their actively cooled heat shield design - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V6lfs7xFJM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V6lfs7xFJM Tour: https://

I really like their actively cooled heat shield design - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V6lfs7xFJM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V6lfs7xFJM Tour: https://youtu.be/EY8nbSwjtEY https://youtu.be/EY8nbSwjtEY

consumer451 2y ago
We live in such interesting times regarding space. Between Stoke, Rocket Lab, and SpaceX, we have three fully reusable launch vehicles being built today! I am really excited about Stoke. They have done so much on a relatively limited budget. For anyone unfamiliar with Stoke, here is a great recent interview with CEO, Andy Lapsa: https://mainenginecutoff.com/podcast/284 https://mainenginecutoff.com/podcast/284
- bryanlarsen 2y ago
  I don't believe Rocket Lab is designing a fully reusable vehicle. Relativity is, though, and Blue Origin is working on the fully reusable Jarvis. There is also at least one Chinese firm working on a fully reusable vehicle.
  - consumer451 2y ago
    They are. They call it Neutron. [0] The reason that I didn’t include Blue is that AFAIK, it is not being manufactured at the moment, unlike the other three. https://www.rocketlabusa.com/launch/neutron/ https://www.rocketlabusa.com/launch/neutron/
    - bryanlarsen 2y ago
      Neutron is not fully reusable. The second stage is thrown away. It's a good design for partly resuable, though -- the second stage is tiny, and the fairings are part of the first stage rather than separating. > The reason that I didn’t include Blue is that AFAIK, it is not being manufactured at the moment, unlike the other three. Neutron, Relativity R and Stoke aren't being manufactured yet either, so I'm not sure what the distinction is.
      - ortusdux 2y ago
        Blue Origin is developing both reusable and non-reusable 2nd stages in tandem: "We're also working on a reusable second stage. Right. 46:20 And we're gonna let that be a horse race. So the, the goal for the expendable stage is to become 46:26 so cheap to manufacture that reusability never makes sense. Awesome. And the goal for the reusable stage is to become 46:35 so operable that exp expandability never makes sense. And so it's, and we will see 46:41 because when you do that trade on paper, it just isn't obvious. Right. Right. 46:47 On the first stage it's blindingly obvious. Right, right, right. Yeah. It's like the bulk of 46:54 the cost. - It's lowest velocities. Yeah. Correct. It's everything lines up for reusability. Yeah. 47:01 For the second stage, it's an interesting horse race. Yeah. So we're just gonna go barreling down both paths. 47:09 And try to figure out which one is better. Really. Yeah. And 'cause it's just about cost. - At the end 47:15 of the day. Yeah. At the end of the day it's just about cost - Are where you actually at in terms of that second stage, the reusable second stage." https://youtu.be/rsuqSn7ifpU?si=4_cm2khyEP0as4aF&t=2771 https://youtu.be/rsuqSn7ifpU?si=4_cm2khyEP0as4aF&t=2771

consumer451 2y ago

We live in such interesting times regarding space. Between Stoke, Rocket Lab, and SpaceX, we have three fully reusable launch vehicles being built today! I am really excited about Stoke. They have done so much on a relatively limited budget. For anyone unfamiliar with Stoke, here is a great recent interview with CEO, Andy Lapsa: https://mainenginecutoff.com/podcast/284 https://mainenginecutoff.com/podcast/284

bryanlarsen 2y ago
I don't believe Rocket Lab is designing a fully reusable vehicle. Relativity is, though, and Blue Origin is working on the fully reusable Jarvis. There is also at least one Chinese firm working on a fully reusable vehicle.
- consumer451 2y ago
  They are. They call it Neutron. [0] The reason that I didn’t include Blue is that AFAIK, it is not being manufactured at the moment, unlike the other three. https://www.rocketlabusa.com/launch/neutron/ https://www.rocketlabusa.com/launch/neutron/
  - bryanlarsen 2y ago
    Neutron is not fully reusable. The second stage is thrown away. It's a good design for partly resuable, though -- the second stage is tiny, and the fairings are part of the first stage rather than separating. > The reason that I didn’t include Blue is that AFAIK, it is not being manufactured at the moment, unlike the other three. Neutron, Relativity R and Stoke aren't being manufactured yet either, so I'm not sure what the distinction is.
    - ortusdux 2y ago
      Blue Origin is developing both reusable and non-reusable 2nd stages in tandem: "We're also working on a reusable second stage. Right. 46:20 And we're gonna let that be a horse race. So the, the goal for the expendable stage is to become 46:26 so cheap to manufacture that reusability never makes sense. Awesome. And the goal for the reusable stage is to become 46:35 so operable that exp expandability never makes sense. And so it's, and we will see 46:41 because when you do that trade on paper, it just isn't obvious. Right. Right. 46:47 On the first stage it's blindingly obvious. Right, right, right. Yeah. It's like the bulk of 46:54 the cost. - It's lowest velocities. Yeah. Correct. It's everything lines up for reusability. Yeah. 47:01 For the second stage, it's an interesting horse race. Yeah. So we're just gonna go barreling down both paths. 47:09 And try to figure out which one is better. Really. Yeah. And 'cause it's just about cost. - At the end 47:15 of the day. Yeah. At the end of the day it's just about cost - Are where you actually at in terms of that second stage, the reusable second stage." https://youtu.be/rsuqSn7ifpU?si=4_cm2khyEP0as4aF&t=2771 https://youtu.be/rsuqSn7ifpU?si=4_cm2khyEP0as4aF&t=2771