sh1pman

It is said to be refuelable. It’ll also bring surface samples to the station through science airlock.

The point is to have a lot of people employed, but it also has side products: space station, space ship and a big rocket. And now it has momentum, so I’m pretty sure DSG will happen, and it’ll definitely have some work done (to keep being funded, if anything). I understand that it’s all kinda backwards, and could be done much more efficiently, but it’s how it is for now. DSG needs to have a point, because otherwise it won’t be funded, and money is the whole point of this SLS-DSG project.

Well, I read this article, and it states that there will be a robotic lander, HLEPP, with reusable ascent stage. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/imp.html There is also a possibility of a manned lander, if money allows. NASA can outsource it to some other country.

I think it’s because Orion needs to return to Earth from NRHO, and not from LLO. EUS does the job of boosting the stack to TLI. Orion SM is only needed to circularize at DSG orbit, and then boost the CM back to Earth, which is easier to do from high orbit of DSG (sorry, LOP-G!) than from LLO. LOP-G will have its own reusable lander as well. No need to carry it to the Moon, hence smaller SM is needed.

Good luck

Russia admits the inability to build satellites https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ru&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=https://news.rambler.ru/tech/39656376-rf-priznala-nesposobnost-sozdavat-sputniki/&xid=17259,15700002,15700019,15700124,15700126,15700149,15700168,15700173,15700186,15700201&usg=ALkJrhir6tk3B8FEhnllwRdD0Fx5cuwFoA

Well, you were very close. https://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/копец

Capacity to lift 150t to orbit means you can have a normal-size probe with its own big and heavy kick stage. Opens up direct missions to outer Solar system, gas giant moons, Kuiper belt, etc. Want to terraform Mars? No problem, send a huge ion-powered tug to an icy Kuiper belt asteroid and bring it down to cross Mars orbit. Works even better if NTRs become a thing, because you can extract hydrogen from water ice and use it for propulsion. Also solves the power problem.

Oh look, another stupid, pointless, ultra-expensive SHLV without any sensible payloads. Well, on the bright side, it's very likely to be cancelled after one or two flights, like N-1 and Energia.

Out of the solar system? Just how much dv does that upper stage have?

Am I the only one not understanding the hype? Like, there's nothing in that tweet that we hadn't already known.

...yea, and just recently I explained to my brother that upper stage recovery is not worth the trouble, and that SpaceX would never go for it until BFR.

Holy moly, this is new:

Ok, this changes everything.

wow, I had the exact same thought 15 minutes ago. If BFR launch is that cheap, then just launch it all the way to LEO, packed with food and drinks for a week, then bring it back down. If it's $10k or less, I'd absolutely, 100% go for it (and I'm a poor PhD student)!

You mean range? Honestly, no idea, but if it's only going suborbital, it should have enough fuel left for landing, even with 10-20t of people and luggage. With non-standard engine setup (e.g. 5 SL and 2 Vacuum Raptors) it should have decent TWR.

Where can I get a model F9 like that?

Yes. Though I still don't get the economics of this. Shotwell said it's going to cost the same as a business class ticket, lets say a $1000 per seat. With 100 passengers, it's going to generate a hundred grand per flight. Now, I understand that reusability is a game changer, but surely a BFR launch can't cost less than that.

https://www.fastcompany.com/40557831/spacex-wants-to-replace-long-haul-flights-with-rocket-travel-in-the-next-10-years

You mean BFR?

Elon is secretly building a giant revolver gun. That shoots cars into space.

Nah, it's vaporware. No point in discussing it, and it'll change a hundred times! /s

SLS has its use... like a gold mine has its use for the miners.

Yeah, this is probably the best option from the cost perspective. Requires rendezvous and autonomous docking though. And two narrowly spaced launches.

FH has poor BLEO performance. For launching something to Jupiter, you really want a high Isp hydrolox stage.