ELI5. If the weight of rocket fuel is so important, why do SpaceX boosters waste a ton of fuel landing themselves?

584 viewsEngineeringOther

ELI5. If the weight of rocket fuel is so important, why do SpaceX boosters waste a ton of fuel landing themselves?

In: Engineering

17 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because the rocket equation is just a part of the “how much does it cost to put a kg into orbit” equation.  Turns out it’s cheaper to carry around a few extra tons of fuel to save a rocket worth tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.

You are viewing 1 out of 17 answers, click here to view all answers.