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New Glenn Falcon 9 Height 96m 70m Payload 45 tons 22.8 tons Fairing 7m 5m New Glenn significantly increases the capacity to
by exomonk 11mo ago
New Glenn Falcon 9
Height 96m 70m
Payload 45 tons 22.8 tons
Fairing 7m 5m
New Glenn significantly increases the capacity to Low Earth Orbit, which is what this first phase of the space race has always been about (for Golden Dome, and to a lesser extent commercial internet constellations). All eyes on Starship now.
- wat10000 11mo agoFalcon Heavy does up to ~64 tons to LEO and has been available for a while. New Glenn isn't bringing any new capabilities to the table. It is still a very welcome alternative.
- exomonk 11mo ago64 tons is if Falcon Heavy is fully expended (nothing recovered) configuration. Even with smaller payload, the center core is generally a lost cause. Falcony Heavy is extremely difficult to launch as I learned when I worked at SpaceX. It turned out that slapping a bunch of Falcons together was not structurally reasonable design choice.
- Cucco 11mo agoAlso falcon heavy use the same fairing as falcon 9 which limits payload size for heavy
- mrtnmcc 11mo agoAnd don't forget New Glenn uses Methane which solves the coking problem for reusability. Coke buildup plagues Falcon more than people realize.
- cubefox 11mo agoI think some Falcon 9 lower stages have already been reused 30 times, which suggests coking is not a major problem.
- mrtnmcc 11mo agoThe individual Falcon turn-around is slow (months of refurb), and the record half-month ones swapped some engines. B1067's 30-reuse is a ship of Theseus rebuilt over 4+ years.
- egberts1 11mo agoFeh, swapping engine is not an option for the first few initial Mars trips, unless its payload also contains engines (can't imagine the scissor-lift payload either that needs to go with).
- golden-dome 11mo agoDon't take the Mars story at face value, SpaceX has always been for the military industrial complex. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1ga3fjq/comment/ltau83t/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1ga3fjq/comment/...
- wat10000 11mo agoThat post really does not make that case. Of course SpaceX will enthusiastically cooperate with a deep-pocketed customer, but that's all it shows.
- gremlin101 11mo ago[dead]
- loafofbuns 11mo agoDid you miss the 2001 part?
- wat10000 11mo agoNo, I just understand that traveling with the former head of SDI does not mean the company’s stated mission is a cover story.
- panick21_ 10mo agoAs part of DoD contract an extend size fairing for Falcon 9 has been developed. So yes there is a larger fairing, that Falcon Heavy can use.
- computerdork 11mo agoSuper interesting. Didn't know this. One question for you since your worked at SpaceX. Starship v4 is supposed to be able to bring 200 metric tons to LEO vs 35 metric tons for v2. Do you have any guesses on the finally amount that New Glenn will be able to bring up when it reaches its version/block 4?
- newZWhoDis 11mo ago>200 tons to LEO *In fully reusable first AND second stage configuration. An expendable starship would double the tonnage.
- computerdork 11mo agoThanks:)
- philipwhiuk 11mo agoThe numbers for payload beyond v3 are aspirational at best.
- computerdork 11mo agoInteresting, and sounds like Elon:)
- ChuckMcM 11mo agoI'll defer to your experience on this, however Falcon Heavy is the comparable platform so what you're saying is that New Glenn might be able to out compete Falcon Heavy given it was designed from the start for this space? (Not trying to put words in your mouth, just keeping my launch services portfolio up to date :-)).
- antonvs 11mo ago> It turned out that slapping a bunch of Falcons together was not structurally reasonable design choice. The design process at SpaceX sounds hilarious.
- potato3732842 11mo agoIDK why you're getting downvoted. There's something very endearing about using the Kerbal Space Program workflow in real life and making it work. Physics: exists Engineer: "hehehehe, lets add struts" <object actually goes to space as designed>
- bell-cot 11mo ago> slapping a bunch of Falcons together was not structurally reasonable design choice. True. But given the far-lower demand for the Heavy's payload capabilities (vs. Falcon 9), and the costs of the alternatives launch providers for such payloads - slapping a bunch of Falcons together looks like an excellent corporate engineering strategy choice.
- thinkcontext 11mo ago> New Glenn isn't bringing any new capabilities to the table Their payload fairing volume is a new capability.
- gremlin101 11mo ago[flagged]
- esseph 11mo agoWho will think of the billionaires!
- exomonk 11mo ago[flagged]
- gtowey 11mo agoWell at least we have the answer to the Fermi Paradox now.
- mensetmanusman 11mo agoProsperity induced fertility collapse beat it to the punch.
- ChrisGreenHeur 11mo agoincome correlates with fertility in for example Sweden where the highest income bracket has 2.1 children.
- lotsofpulp 11mo agoEveryone can’t be in the highest income bracket.
- ChrisGreenHeur 11mo agoreading comprehension the topic is fertility collapse due to prosperity the point is, is that actually the core issue?
- nandomrumber 11mo ago2.1 is replacement. Sweden’s over all fertility rate looks to be around 1.8.