Will Locket is roasting SpaceX with its Starship quite angrily, taking no prisoners... basically telling that SpaceX is a pile of overhyped trash not delivering any of its promises.
Starship had so far 7 failed tests. The reason why is a fuel leak mid flight. He's arguing that this stuff is common, and the knowledge how to prevent it has been around since decades. When NASA deferred the first Artemis 1 launch because of fuel leaks, they fixed the problem and it completed its mission flawlessly.
SpaceX instead makes things go kaboom, also indicating more importantly they are not using after that tried and trusted technology like x-ray analysis, fuel system overpressurisation and more to fix the mistake once and for all. So Locket really doubts how SpaceX is developing the rocket at all.
Even worse, the good old Saturn V rocket still beats Starship at all major points namely reliability, payload and launch cost:
"Over 50 years ago, NASA was able to get its Saturn V, a rocket nearly as large as Starship, to fly without ever having a failed launch over its 13-launch, six-year operational lifespan. This was a rocket designed with computers less powerful than a Casio watch, built with far less accurate techniques and materials, with check systems and procedures infinitely less sophisticated than anything today. Yet, engineers were able to ensure it never had a launch failure, even during testing.
Technologically speaking, the Saturn V was a caveman rocket, yet it was infinitely more useful and reliable than the high-tech Starship.
But somehow, Musk found a way to make this all so much worse.
Starship was meant to be able to take 100 tonnes to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and be fully reusable afterwards. That is 41.5 tonnes less than Saturn V, but the reusability should have made it significantly cheaper. Unfortunately, it seems Musk overestimated how much thrust their engines can produce, and as such, he has had to admit that the current design can only take “40–50 tons to orbit,” with no obvious way to correct this.
This means that, even if SpaceX can get their Starship to work, their Falcon Heavy rocket will actually be cheaper per kilogram to orbit!
What’s more, if you actually look at how expensive Starship launches actually are, its kilogram-to-orbit cost is the same as Saturn V! (read more here).
So, basically, the NASA of over 50 years ago is beating SpaceX at their own game."
This should never have happened.
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