SpaceX's entire business model is based on the reusability of its rockets.
That business model has proven viable time and time again as boosters
continue to land safely only to be reused later. But as the rockets they're
using get bigger and bigger, the harder and harder it will get for them to
land directly on the ground, as models they've completed so far have. So for
its SuperHeavy Booster, designed to launch its Starship craft into orbit,
SpaceX has to develop a new way of capturing the rockets without damaging
them. Its head, Elon Musk, has shared a Twitter video showing how it will do
just that.
The video, which is only 24 seconds long, shows a computer simulation of a
SuperHeavy Booster descending back to Earth after launching its payload into
orbit. It's been viewed 4.3 million times as of the time of writing and has
prompted a firestorm of interest online.
Maybe something like this pic.twitter.com/PUBLdaewt8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 20, 2022
Like much of what SpaceX has designed so far, the system is unlike any ever
seen in reality. The booster itself has four rectangular fins at its top,
splayed out like a giant cross outside the circular rocket housing. As it
performs its powered descent, it aims between two pincer-like appendages
extruding from Starbase, the original launch platform itself.
That's a pretty tight squeeze and much more challenging to navigate than
existing powered descents, which have a landing pad to land on. It's also
very similar to an animation system released by C-bass productions back in
November.
While Starship itself was recently stacked on top of a heavy booster for the
first time, and the company recently released a Starship update, hinting
that the craft may fly by next month, there's still a long way to go before
this system is fully tested. And there are plenty of people that are
questioning the physics and economics of the system already. But if there is
one rocketry company that has proven again and again that it can overcome
seemingly immense technical challenges to literally get their rocket off
(and back on) the ground, it's SpaceX.
Convincing 3D animation of how a real SuperHeavy Booster catch might look.
Credit: C-bass Productions YouTube Channel
Source: Link
Tags:
Space & Astrophysics