Infographic for the next flight of the Giant Stainless Steel Rocket

[glhs837]

When? Who knows. Vehicle should be ready in the next week or so. But the FAA is playing about a bit and so it might be pushed back til the end of October. Here's what's going happen. Tower catch odds? Myself, I place them at 65/35 for a catch that doesn't result in an explosion. Maybe damage to the booster or tower, but no boom. I also think that the orbital part, Starship, will succeed in reentry without any melting bits on the flaps.

 

[stgislander]

When? Who knows. Vehicle should be ready in the next week or so. But the FAA is playing about a bit and so it might be pushed back til the end of October. Here's what's going happen. Tower catch odds? Myself, I place them at 65/35 for a catch that doesn't result in an explosion. Maybe damage to the booster or tower, but no boom. I also think that the orbital part, Starship, will succeed in reentry without any melting bits on the flaps.

Are they still going to let Starship sink or will they try to recover?

 

[glhs837]

Are they still going to let Starship sink or will they try to recover?

Not sure. Speculation is that they will trigger the FTS "scuttle" charges if it ends up intact after falling over. I don't recall if this is landing off of Hawaii or the Indian Ocean. If the latter, recovery might be an option, but in the IO, probably blow it. Depth and recovery by foreign nations might play a role as well.

 

[stgislander]

Not sure. Speculation is that they will trigger the FTS "scuttle" charges if it ends up intact after falling over. I don't recall if this is landing off of Hawaii or the Indian Ocean. If the latter, recovery might be an option, but in the IO, probably blow it. Depth and recovery by foreign nations might play a role as well.

Is to too large to land on one of their landing barges?

 

[glhs837]

Is to too large to land on one of their landing barges?

At 30 feet diameter vs 12, its not too big to fit, but it is to big to safely land. And, of course, there's the other pesky bit .....

Now, both the Artemis Human Landing System (HLS) and Martian Lander versions will have legs, at least until catch towers can be built in both locations. But landing loads in either location are quite a bit less that loads here. Thats one thing to understand about Starship. It was never intended to be a one trick pony. Given the robust steel construction and SpaceXs ability to iterate, the expectation is that there will be a wide variety of Starships optimized for different tasks.