It’s been more than 40 years since the first successful space shuttle launch. However, as we saw with the recent NASA launch, we still have launch failures. Why is it so tough to achieve reliability in space shuttle launches? Does this apply to all space technology?

Question

It’s been more than 40 years since the first successful space shuttle launch. However, as we saw with the recent NASA launch, we still have launch failures. Why is it so tough to achieve reliability in space shuttle launches? Does this apply to all space technology?

In:

Answer 1

Reliability comes by testing many vehicles. Rockets are expensive; therefore we don’t make a lot of rockets. Given the limited number of tests it takes a lot of time to get enough tests to reach high reliability.

BTW. the SLS test shut down because they were to conservative with some hydraulic limits.