SpaceX installed 29 Raptor engines on a Super Heavy rocket last night

Re:SpaceX installed 29 Raptor engines on a Super Heavy rocke... by sebzim4500 on Monday August 02, 2021 @06:49PM (#28043685)

Elon Musk claims this is all to establish a civilisation on Mars in order to decrease the chance of humanity destroying itself. He might not have an entirely faithful relationship with the truth, but there is really no other rational reason to be so aggressive with the Starship program. SpaceX already does the vast majority of commercial launches using its Falcon 9 rocket, so they don't need to do anything this drastic.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:SpaceX installed 29 Raptor engines on a Super Heavy rocke... by the_duke on Monday August 02, 2021 @07:48PM (#28044161)

There is a very practical reason: Starlink. Launching all those Starlink sats on Falcon 9 must be much more expensive than they would like, and Starship aims to provide a considerably higher payload capacity with much lower cost (if the re-usability plans work out).

Apart from that, Musk is great at marketing and sometimes full of crap, but when you listen to some of his converstions it's not hard to believe that the Mars mission is earnestly what drives him.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:SpaceX installed 29 Raptor engines on a Super Heavy rocke... by hef19898 on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @04:27AM (#28046881)

I am still not convinced Starlink being really cheaper than ground based fibre.

Exceptions I can think off:

- military application, but they have their solutions

- on high seas, no idea how that works now

- regions maintaining ground stations is risky (war zones and so on)

Maybe I am wrong, but I have the impression Starlink is for SpaceX is what FSD is for Tesla, a way to "raise" money. And that is working. I am just not sure if I like it, since it would mean innovation success depends more on the founders ability to raise money than actual product market fit or profitability.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:SpaceX installed 29 Raptor engines on a Super Heavy rocke... by joshmarlow on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @01:32PM (#28051867)

It's possible that it would not be cheaper from an overall infrastructure perspective, but still cheaper for consumers with limited options.

Most of my extended family lives in rural Tennessee where their internet options are still dial-up and 5G. Comcast isn't interested in laying additional fiber to remote houses. There are options through AT&T, but I think they end up paying close to $20/GB.

Several of my relatives are pretty pumped about StarLink as a potential option.

I think the niche for StarLink is this - outlying communities where traditional ISPs are uninterested in building out infrastructure for the 'long tails' of the population.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:SpaceX installed 29 Raptor engines on a Super Heavy rocke... by perrylaj on Monday August 02, 2021 @06:59PM (#28043752)

My assumption has always been that the first to Mars will have a huge edge in gaining access to any natural resources (ore, salts, etc) that might have commercial value. I imagine the first organization to establish mining and refining capabilities on Mars would stand to make trillions in the production of things like steel and aluminum, as would be needed to build out any sizeable settlements on the planet.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:SpaceX installed 29 Raptor engines on a Super Heavy rocke... by ryan93 on Monday August 02, 2021 @09:14PM (#28044679)

You can make those on earth much cheaper.

[ Parent | on HN ]