Re:Starship – SN8 – High-Altitude Flight Test
by Denvercoder9 on Wednesday December 09, 2020 @07:55PM
(#25368004)
Payload-wise New Glenn is better comparable to Falcon Heavy than to Starship. New Glenn actually sits more or less in the middle between Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.
Re:Starship – SN8 – High-Altitude Flight Test
by fastball on Thursday December 10, 2020 @04:03AM
(#25371465)
If you ignore payload capacity, I'd say New Glenn is much closer to Starship than it is to Falcon 9 in terms of technical development, mostly because of its novel engine, the BE-4. Like the Starship's Raptors, they are powered by a fuel that can be produced in-situ at the intended destination. Though in the case of the Raptors it's Methalox from Martian atmosphere (via Sabatier), whereas BE-4 engines are Hydrolox that they hope to get from ice on the moon.
Re:Starship – SN8 – High-Altitude Flight Test
by philwelch on Thursday December 10, 2020 @05:11AM
(#25371982)
BE-4 is methalox. BE-3 and BE-7 are hydrolox.
Re:Starship – SN8 – High-Altitude Flight Test
by fastball on Thursday December 10, 2020 @03:15PM
(#25377995)
Thanks for the correction, you're right, I was thinking about their Blue Moon lander, which is slated to have BE-7 engines.
Re:Starship – SN8 – High-Altitude Flight Test
by sushibowl on Thursday December 10, 2020 @08:28AM
(#25373453)
Is the BE-4 design really that new? The choice of fuel is of course novel. But apart from that, it seems to be an oxygen-rich staged combustion design, which was invented by the soviets... somewhere in the 60's?
My gut says that if they don't test they can't deliver, and that Elon's rapid prototyping will keep SpaceX far in the lead for the foreseeable future. But only time will tell.