Why were the shuttles retired? Would the tech have evolved to make them more effective and efficient? Why was there a return to rockets? Are they as reusable?
Thanks!
In: Technology
Have a look at the falcon 9. It’s the only reusable rocket currently and it lands on its tail.
The cost for a falcon 9 launch is a fraction of any other launch system. You were looking at 450 million to launch a shuttle in 2011, spacex is sub 15 million vost based on statements by musk about never losing money on a launch.
Retail price for a falcon 9 is ~65 million, still a fraction of shuttle.
The shuttle could carry 27500kg to orbit, and the falcon 9 is 23000kg. Do you’re not looking at a big mass difference.
The thing the shuttle did that we do not have an equivalent of is being a platform for people working in space. For that it was unrivaled and we have nothing even close today.
Leaving out the economics of the shuttle though, it had significant design flaws that put the crew at risk on every launch. And there was no budget to build a version 2.
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