If this realization of SpaceX Starship payload is true, Rocket Lab Neutron, if it delivers the numbers in its design, may be far more competitive than many assume. A reusable Neutron then has a real chance of becoming the most cost-efficient launch vehicle www.planetearthandbeyond.co/p/spacex-has... - ThreadSky

deezmemes.bsky.social • 92 days ago

If this realization of SpaceX Starship payload is true, Rocket Lab Neutron, if it delivers the numbers in its design, may be far more competitive than many assume. A reusable Neutron then has a real chance of becoming the most cost-efficient launch vehicle
https://www.planetearthandbeyond.co/p/spacex-has-finally-figured-out-why?r=2jrudk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

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astroamateur.bsky.social•91 days ago

I wouldnt put too much weight into that article. It reads like a Starship hate-piece rather than a well researched article.

Neutron will have its niche. It doesnt need to outcompete Starship. Box trucks still exist even though freight trains carry more.

Some of my issues with the article:

astroamateur.bsky.social•91 days ago

The author claims that Starship can take 40-50 tons to orbit with "no obvious way of correcting this"
40-50 tons is referencing only Starship version 1 (IFT1-6).
Version 2 and 3 are the "obvious way".
Stretched tanks, Raptor 3 engines, and additional Raptor Vacuum engines will "correct it".

astroamateur.bsky.social•91 days ago

Their cost calculations uses speculative numbers and waves away the reduced cost by future re-use. The most expensive part, Booster, has already been caught 3 times with the only failed attempt being an issue with the tower. Engines cost ~$1mil each & Booster has 33. Costs will drop with reuse of it

astroamateur.bsky.social•91 days ago

They call out the heatshield for Starship in the cost breakdown. If tiles cost the same as Shuttle (they don't by several magnitudes), it'd cost about 18mil to replace the whole shield. Realistically, it'll be 180k-1.8mil range.

astroamateur.bsky.social•91 days ago

There's also a claim that theyre landing in the ocean still to hide heat issues yet SpaceX wanted to attempt a Starship catch on IFT-8 if not for the IFT-7 failure. Just another baseless claim by the author.

astroamateur.bsky.social•91 days ago

Anyway, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. Theres definitely legit concerns for Starship but I think theyll overcome.
I dont think itll reach the original claims, but Starship will still be awesome, as will Neutron. Hopefully there's higher quality articles about both.

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