[AR] Re: [UK OFFICIAL] Re: SSTO
- From: Henry Vanderbilt <hvanderbilt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2018 12:17:30 -0700
On 2/12/2018 4:23 AM, Aplin Alexander T (Redacted sender ATAPLIN for
DMARC) wrote:
Elon Musk's comments on testing BFR's upper stage and SSTO capability are at ~
21:20 point of his post FH launch press conference (I haven't found a
transcript anywhere). See YouTube video here
https://youtu.be/QxVNYdVBgpY?t=21m9s
Summary:
Hopper testing next year either in south Texas or ship to ship.
It is "capable of SSTO is you fully load the tanks"
According to Aviation Week, the BFR upper stage (aka 'spaceship') stats are:
Length: 48 m
Diameter: 9m
Dry mass: 85 t
Propellant mass: 1100 t
Max ascent payload: 150 t [I assume this is as part of a 2-stage rocket?]
Typical return payload: 50 t [ditto]
Is BFR upper stage dry mass mentioned anywhere? One could infer quite a
bit from that.
In any case, I'd expect the hopper tests to be with something that may
externally look like the eventual orbital vehicle, but is a long way
from actual orbital capability - lacking high-speed systems, and
boilerplate construction.
A full capability BFR upper stage will come later. How much later,
well, that's an interesting question. My take is, Cheop's Law applies -
everything takes longer and costs more than planned. Others will no
doubt differ. (I hope they're more correct than I, FWIW.)
Henry V
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