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11 minutes ago, SpaceFace545 said:

Starship will be on top but I doubt it will really be able to fly the promoted 100 tons. 

I'm not completely convinced it means 100+mt of pure payload as opposed to payload + residual fuel. Very few rockets actually lift their nominal payload to LEO. 

But 100t to LEO fuel inclusive? Dead cert.

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On 5/21/2021 at 12:30 PM, tater said:

Say a house on your street sells for $2M! Is your house then worth $2M? Is your house worth $6M?

Your house is worth whatever someone will pay for it. (It also has utility value in that it provides you a place to live.)

In the same sense, a launch is worth whatever a customer is willing to pay for it.

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5 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

Your house is worth whatever someone will pay for it. (It also has utility value in that it provides you a place to live.)

In the same sense, a launch is worth whatever a customer is willing to pay for it.

Certainly true.

We're talking about buying secondary spacecraft (not launches) to have options when we know that the "giant mansion" of a spacecraft costs $2.9B.

It is odd to think someone buying extra/redundant capability would spend 2-3X as much on something objectively far less capable.

Obviously if Congress wants to spend too much money on something worse, then poof, we have a comp in the neighborhood where a huge house is $2M, and also a potting shed is $2M.

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48 minutes ago, Beccab said:

I know that the HLS contract to Spacex is now secured, but is the payment for it too? As in, can congress still say "take two landers but we won't give you more money, split what you already have"?

Payment is part of the contract, but of course the contract is under protest by the two providers not selected at the moment. However, as I understand it Congress can do whatever they darn well please to NASA.

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2 hours ago, RCgothic said:

If NASA can't make the payment milestones because of funding not released by Congress, progress will slow down. Some in Congress would then seek to pin the delay on SpaceX.

Except SpaceX's progress likely wouldn't be slowed by any change in the contract. The only thing that might happen is an unrelated, coincidental delay caused by some other factor.

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I wonder if we'll ever see a fully expended Starship launch. It would be cool to see but I don't think anyone is going to need a 300t payload put in LEO anytime soon.

A thing we're more likely to see is an expendable upper stage config for high-energy interplanetary launches.

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Just now, RealKerbal3x said:

I wonder if we'll ever see a fully expended Starship launch. It would be cool to see but I don't think anyone is going to need a 300t payload put in LEO anytime soon.

A thing we're more likely to see is an expendable upper stage config for high-energy interplanetary launches.

I think the latter is possible, raptor vacs only. I’ve seen a deep space starship image floating around the internet so that could be it.

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Just now, SpaceFace545 said:

I think the latter is possible, raptor vacs only. I’ve seen a deep space starship image floating around the internet so that could be it.

Technically it would still need SL Raptors for control during ascent as RVacs don't have gimbal. (I don't think RCS would provide enough authority)

Also, this might be the image you were thinking of, from an Everyday Astronaut video:

The Definitive Guide To Starship: Starship vs Falcon 9, what's new and  improved? | Everyday Astronaut

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23 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

Technically it would still need SL Raptors for control during ascent as RVacs don't have gimbal. (I don't think RCS would provide enough authority)

Also, this might be the image you were thinking of, from an Everyday Astronaut video:

The Definitive Guide To Starship: Starship vs Falcon 9, what's new and  improved? | Everyday Astronaut

Yep that’s it, I saw it from Stanley creatives new video.

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I wonder if the skirt could also be dumped on an expendable version as an interstage Saturn S-II style.

... And immediately I've talked myself out of that idea because for best effect it'll still need refuelling in LEO or higher and that's where the gear's kept.

Edited by RCgothic
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2 hours ago, SpaceFace545 said:

I think the latter is possible, raptor vacs only. I’ve seen a deep space starship image floating around the internet so that could be it.

It should be doable, however then they need more vacuum engines,  6 I guess as they will use the sea level ones after separation. 
Could probably to with less but 6 makes its a bit easier to shut down engines to reduce g load and better engine out performance. 
An fairing who could be steel or composite, I guess steel as its dropped soon after separation so not much penalty, its easier to make and you will refuel in orbit anyway. 
 

1 hour ago, RCgothic said:

I wonder if the skirt could also be dumped on an expendable version as an interstage Saturn S-II style.

... And immediately I've talked myself or of that idea because for best effect it'll still need refuelling in LEO or higher and that's where the gear's kept.

Yes both the engines and the refueling system is mounted to the skirt, the skirt also protect engines and other stuff during the rear to rear docking. 
You could probably use an lightweight internal frame for this and drop the skirt but this adds complexity so probably not worth it. 

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4 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

It should be doable, however then they need more vacuum engines,  6 I guess as they will use the sea level ones after separation. 
Could probably to with less but 6 makes its a bit easier to shut down engines to reduce g load and better engine out performance. 

Does the skirt even have space for 6 vacuum raptors given that they have a much bigger nozzle?

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12 hours ago, tater said:

we have a comp in the neighborhood where a huge house is $2M, and also a potting shed is $2M.

Welcome to Seattle, here’s your umbrella. :D

7 minutes ago, Beccab said:

Does the skirt even have space for 6 vacuum raptors given that they have a much bigger nozzle?

If they don’t gimbal, I think so, could swear I’ve seen a diagram somewhere.

Also, can Rvacs throttle? If so, there’s your control right there. 

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