Eli5: “Why do spacecraft keep exploding, when we figured out to make them work ages ago?”

Question

I know its literally rocket science and a lot of very complex systems need to work together, but shouldnt we be able to iterate on a working formular?

In: Engineering

Answer 1

They are trying to drastically cut the cost per.Ton to launch. There are very high reliable launch systems that are very expensive. If your satellite itself is relatively cheap to make, do you go with the launch system that has 5% failure for 10 million dollars or 20% failure for half a million dollars. (For example, not real numbers)