SpaceX, which is not happy to make things simple or easy, plans to catch its next Super Heavy booster rockets in the launch tower, allowing for later re-launches just an hour later.
Not to be confused with the Falcon Heavy, the Super Heavy will serve as a backdrop for SpaceX’s upcoming Starship system. The second stage of the system will be Starship itself, which is designed to launch and land on its own. When paired with the booster, Starship will transform into a formidable launch system, capable of delivering cargo and dozens of passengers into Earth orbit, the Moon and Mars.
The Super Heavy, like the second stage of Starship, is still in development, and the specifications are very much changing. Originally, the Super Heavy reinforcement was meant to land with a retractable device legs similar to those seen on the company’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket. But, as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk explained in a recent series of tweets, they have rejected the concept.
“We will try to grab the Super Heavy Booster with the launch tower arm, using the net fins to grab the load,” he said. he tweeted in response to a query. “It saves the mass and the cost of the legs and allows to reposition immediately the reinforcement to the launching of the setting, ready to send again in less than an hour” added Musk.
G / O Media may receive a commission
The fact that SpaceX is designing a system capable of launching Starships at one-hour intervals points to the company’s future ambitions. It remains to be seen whether these giant drivers – who will measure It measures 70 meters high (9 meters) and 9 meters wide (in fact) being caught that way, but Musk’s impressive track record means we have to take that perspective seriously.
Equipped with more than two dozen Raptor engines, the Super Heavy booster will exert more than 16 million pounds of force. In comparison, it will do block 2 of NASA’s next SLS system provide 9.5 million pounds of thrust.
On December 12th, SpaceX done anotheraltitude test of a Starship prototype rocket, which crashed while trying to land. Musk described as a “successful ascent,” adding that “we got all the data we needed.” New prototypes of Starship are currently being prepared for later testing, but there are no dates for these releases. have been released.