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Lucky 13 Starship sends out satellites and stays intact(cosmiclog.com)
4 points by ColinWright 15 hours ago | 3 comments
JPLeRouzic 15 hours ago | parent [-]

I am a big fan of SpaceX, they are amazing engineers and scientists!

But when I watch such videos I can't suppress thinking that is not the way access to space should be. I still (I am 69) think that the way forward is with planes that could take off and landing on runways.

ben_w 14 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Spaceplanes have a nice visual aesthetic, but absent something much more energy-dense than chemical fuel, they'd still need to be multi-stage, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_Pegasus#/medi...

My current fantasy for space access is an orbital ring: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_ring

A fantasy for all the same reasons as putting up a million data centre satellites (it's roughly the same size project), but somewhat more useful as it turns space from one of the most expensive and difficult places to go, to a long-distance high-speed rail line.

dnemmers 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Looking at the return trajectory for the space shuttle helps you understand the difficulties in combining aero-flight with rocketry using the same control surfaces.