Is a reusable Single Stage To Orbit vehicle with Falcon Heavy level payload capacity more or less a matter of making a sufficiently sized methane and LOX rocket with highly efficient engines?
Quote from: RotoSequence on 05/19/2013 11:38 pmIs a reusable Single Stage To Orbit vehicle with Falcon Heavy level payload capacity more or less a matter of making a sufficiently sized methane and LOX rocket with highly efficient engines?forget about SSTO, its not mass-efficient even if it would be achieveable with a reusable rocket. bringing back a huge rocketstage from orbital-velocity? no way thats going to happen in any forseable future with the rocket-technology we're talking about and anything else currently in cosideration - thats for suremy best hopes would be a 7+m core upscaled version of F9R / F9HR with efficient LMH4/LOX engines - this alone would come close to a miracle by todays standardsit would be technically feasable if FH9R works out so we'll have to see how this is going to work, if we're lucky we'll see a semi-recovered 1st stage soon gently splashing into the ocean there's room for optimism but not physically impractial/impossible technology - although the proposed could be considered over the edge
Are SpaceX going to go after a Super Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle for their own Mars plans? I know Elon himself wants to go to Mars, but would it absolutely need these vehicles or could a number of Falcon Heavies be enough? Could SpaceX afford to build some SHLVs?
SpaceX, Telsa, and Solar City are all not charity cases. SpaceX is going to have a check written to them by someone for any vehicle they build, and that check is going to be written by someone other than Elon Musk.
Single Stage to orbit requires unobtainable materials/fuels and even then is not optimal.
Quote from: SpacexULA on 05/20/2013 12:21 amSingle Stage to orbit requires unobtainable materials/fuels and even then is not optimal.Wrong, and optimal for what?
Quote from: SpacexULA on 05/20/2013 12:21 amSpaceX, Telsa, and Solar City are all not charity cases. SpaceX is going to have a check written to them by someone for any vehicle they build, and that check is going to be written by someone other than Elon Musk.Maybe. It may be far fetched but I could see SpaceX doing well enough to pay dividends... and then Musk turns around and writes a check for his mission. They can't just up and do it without a customer presumably? Or can they? I like your three tracks analysis!
Quote from: QuantumG on 05/20/2013 12:39 amQuote from: SpacexULA on 05/20/2013 12:21 amSingle Stage to orbit requires unobtainable materials/fuels and even then is not optimal.Wrong, and optimal for what?Getting objects into LEO. Seen very few SSTO proposals that didn't require to date unobtained efficiency to get even small payloads to LEO.
Quote from: Lar on 05/20/2013 12:37 amQuote from: SpacexULA on 05/20/2013 12:21 amSpaceX, Telsa, and Solar City are all not charity cases. SpaceX is going to have a check written to them by someone for any vehicle they build, and that check is going to be written by someone other than Elon Musk.Maybe. It may be far fetched but I could see SpaceX doing well enough to pay dividends... and then Musk turns around and writes a check for his mission. They can't just up and do it without a customer presumably? Or can they? I like your three tracks analysis!About a week ago Musk Tweeted that dividends are for companies with nothing better to spend their money on. I don't expect any until Hell freezes over.
OK.. work with me here a bit. So suppose Musk wants to go to mars. Him personally.... How does he pay for the ticket? If he sells stock he loses control. But paying dividends ... no loss of control. Not disagreeing with the general assertion mind you.I suppose since SpaceX is a private company it could be put in his comp package. Kinda like corporate jets for most execs are
I'd be rather surprised if Elon wanted to retire to an almost literally endless red desert, all alone, with nothing to do and no one to see him.
Quote from: RotoSequence on 05/20/2013 02:40 amI'd be rather surprised if Elon wanted to retire to an almost literally endless red desert, all alone, with nothing to do and no one to see him.Given that is what he said he wanted to do... it's just a matter of how many other people go first.
How much am I asking for in a single stage orbital boost back with a 50 tons to LEO payload?
Quote from: AndyX on 05/19/2013 11:30 pmCould SpaceX afford to build some SHLVs?SpaceX tends to have 3 tracks they operate on, Production. Prototyping and Aspirational. [...]2011-Today [...] Aspirational Falcon XX [...]IMHO serious money is not going to get put into Falcon XX until it's use as part of the NASA exploration program is green lighted
Could SpaceX afford to build some SHLVs?