4 ms·
It just crossed my mind that, even after Starship delivers on its promise of cheap 100+ tons to LEO, there will be space in the market for smaller launchers for
by rbanffy 1mo ago
It just crossed my mind that, even after Starship delivers on its promise of cheap 100+ tons to LEO, there will be space in the market for smaller launchers for the same reasons there is a market for both the Airbus A-380 and the A-220 - not everyone has 100+ tons to place in LEO, not everyone wants to wait for the bus to be full before launch, and not everyone wants to have a propulsion pack to get to the right apogee/perigee/inclination if the launcher places the payload in the wrong place - it's like flying into a big airport and taking a train when you could have landed in a smaller one and walked to your hotel. Or lande on the hotel's helipad.
Right now, Starship demands a specific container format for the Pez delivery thing, which is not a one-size-fits-all for every payload (it could be, but that demands a lot of new design).