Why do we still expect “successful failures” on rocket launches and not just scale up or scale down the same design on successful rocket ships and launch pads to make bigger or smaller ships with more stable structural material?

Question

Why do we still expect “successful failures” on rocket launches and not just scale up or scale down the same design on successful rocket ships and launch pads to make bigger or smaller ships with more stable structural material?

In: 1598

Answer 1

Look up the “tyranny of the ticket equation.”

Basically, the physics of our planet and the current limits of our engineering make it pretty difficult to get into orbit. To do so, everything has to be carefully balanced and trade offs need to be made.

Simply scaling up a smaller version will almost inevitably result in the vehicle being too heavy or not having enough power to accomplish its goals. Or, it might get to orbit, but can’t carry any useful payload to do so.

Each rocket has to be designed specifically for the role it is filling.