Launch vehicles and their influence on design

The thread's designs track the launchers of their time: Falcon 9/Heavy and SLS (2014–16), BFR/ITS (2016–18), then Starship (2019 onward).

Key results

• Launcher eras.
• 2014–2016: F9/FH 5 m fairings. These forced telescoping tubes, tapered nested tubes and deployable trusses Aussie_Space_Nut, 2014-03-20; Aussie_Space_Nut, 2015-03-12; Aussie_Space_Nut, 2015-10-21.
  • DragonLab-plus-upper-stage batons mikelepage, 2014-03-14; Paul451, 2015-10-04.
  • BA330s on FH ZIP DUDE, 2015-03-01.
  • SLS tank habitats hydra9, 2015-02-20.
• 2016–2018: ITS/BFR. 150 t water payloads and multi-ship stations LMT, 2018-07-13; LMT, 2018-07-31.
• 2019 onward: Starship. Designs are sized to its 8–9 m payload bay Coastal Ron, 2022-10-10; Coastal Ron, 2023-04-09.
  • Expendable stripped Starships as modules Cheapchips, 2019-04-03; InterestedEngineer, 2023-06-02.
  • The Starship as a reflyable, reconfigurable temporary station proves the market before dedicated stations exist Paul451, 2019-04-06.
• New Glenn (7 m) allows rigid 6.7 × 13 m modules launched complete Coastal Ron, 2018-07-15. Gary Hudson's G-Lab baselined New Glenn HMXHMX, 2018-07-16.
• Cost assumptions.
• Starship is claimed at ~$10M per 100+ t mikelepage, 2022-10-14. Paul451: $10M is the claimed "cost"; early price is likely $100M and ~$50M medium term Paul451, 2022-08-27.
• A Starship ticket ~$15k (2 × $50/kg × 150 kg) lamontagne, 2022-10-05. 40 people on one Starship ≈ $250k per person JayWee, 2022-08-27.
• Reusable rockets mean paying for launches, not mass Coastal Ron, 2018-07-15.
• Station scale in launches.
• mikelepage's first-generation metric: <15,000 t, <$1.5B launch cost, assembly <2.5 years, "about the size and cost of a Virginia-class Block V submarine" mikelepage, 2022-10-14.
• Coastal Ron's Mars-g station: ~300 Starship launches, buildable within 10 years if funded Coastal Ron, 2022-10-30. ~200 launches for the basic structure Coastal Ron, 2023-06-30.
• JohnFornaro's ring: >6 Mt, ~20,000 Starship flights; with lunar material ~1 Mt, 3300 flights lamontagne, 2022-10-13.
• A single-launch spin station is ≈ 2–2.5× the fairing diameter mikelepage, 2019-05-14.
• Starship as a structural element.
• Its steel tanks are rated 3.5 atm at 3.5 g, so only latches or a nose tether structure need reinforcement mikelepage, 2019-05-03. The pressure hull already holds far more tension than the hanging mass Paul451, 2019-05-03.
• Tail-to-tail spin moves propellant to the nose ends, so feed lines and engines lose prime clongton, 2019-05-03.
• Loads should go through the engine thrust structure, as on the pad Aussie_Space_Nut, 2019-04-05.
• Coastal Ron: engines are dead weight and purpose-built modules are cheaper per crew Coastal Ron, 2019-04-09.
• Payload doors: seals and latches are heat-sensitive; an 11 m door opening 142° ≈ 8.5 m wide Twark_Main, 2023-04-12.
• Point-to-point hops to equatorial launch sites LMT, 2022-12-23. A Brazilian LNG terminal near Alcântara for cheap methalox reboost LMT, 2024-08-16.
• In-space assembly removes the payload-size limit (ISS 450 t) Coastal Ron, 2023-04-10.

Open questions

• What will Starship actually cost per flight to a customer, and what payload-bay configuration will be available?
• Will stripped expendable Starships become practical station modules?

Related pages

• Starship-based stations · Module sizing · Cost estimates

Sources

Forum posts

• mikelepage, 2014-03-14 (reply #151, 1 like): DragonLab tethered to its stage. Post.
• Aussie_Space_Nut, 2014-03-20 (reply #217): Collapsible 50 m tube fits F9. Post. Attachments: Tube.jpg.
• hydra9, 2015-02-20 (reply #322): SLS tank AG habitat. Post. Attachments: AGH OTV Assembly D Small.png, O-AGH L4 B.png, AGH Core Module C.png, AGH Habitat module A.png.
• ZIP DUDE, 2015-03-01 (reply #458): 2 × BA330, 3 FH ($375M). Post.
• Aussie_Space_Nut, 2015-03-12 (reply #517): Tapered nested tubes. Post.
• Paul451, 2015-10-04 (reply #664, 2 likes): F9 stage + Dragon baton (2 likes). Post.
• Aussie_Space_Nut, 2015-10-21 (reply #708): Mighty Space Truss (5 launches). Post. Attachments: 1000-Truss-Bolted-Assy.jpg.
• LMT, 2018-07-13 (reply #920): ITS 1 g station. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2018-07-15 (reply #932): New Glenn 7 m rigid modules. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2018-07-15 (reply #938): Pay for launch not mass. Post.
• HMXHMX, 2018-07-16 (reply #942, 2 likes): G-Lab on New Glenn (2 likes). Post. Attachments: An ISS Co-orbital Free-flying Gravitational Biology Laboratory - G-Lab copy.pdf.
• LMT, 2018-07-31 (reply #1068, 1 like): Richie-class ITS stations. Post.
• Cheapchips, 2019-04-03 (reply #1466): Expendable stripped Starships. Post.
• Aussie_Space_Nut, 2019-04-05 (reply #1471): Loads via thrust structure. Post.
• Paul451, 2019-04-06 (reply #1485): Starship as reconfigurable temporary station. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2019-04-09 (reply #1515, 1 like): Engines dead weight. Post.
• mikelepage, 2019-05-03 (reply #1583, 1 like): Tanks 3.5 atm/3.5 g. Post.
• Paul451, 2019-05-03 (reply #1584): Hull holds more tension. Post.
• clongton, 2019-05-03 (reply #1585): Propellant moves to nose. Post.
• mikelepage, 2019-05-14 (reply #1637): ≈ 2–2.5× fairing. Post.
• JayWee, 2022-08-27 (reply #1731, 1 like): $250k/person. Post.
• Paul451, 2022-08-27 (reply #1732): Starship price $50–100M. Post.
• lamontagne, 2022-10-05 (reply #1863, 1 like): Ticket ~$15k. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-10-10 (reply #1968): Starship payload 8 × 17 m. Post.
• lamontagne, 2022-10-13 (reply #2068, 1 like): 20,000 flights. Post.
• mikelepage, 2022-10-14 (reply #2077): Starship ~$10M/100+ t. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2022-10-30 (reply #2256): ~300 launches. Post.
• LMT, 2022-12-23 (reply #2699): P2P to equatorial sites. Post. Attachments: Boca Chica to Guiana Space Centre.png.
• Coastal Ron, 2023-04-09 (reply #3589): Musk: ship may grow; 8 × 10 m cargo. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2023-04-10 (reply #3591): In-space assembly removes limit. Post.
• Twark_Main, 2023-04-12 (reply #3602): Payload door estimates. Post.
• InterestedEngineer, 2023-06-02 (reply #3765): Modules on stripped expendable Starships (<$10M). Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2023-06-30 (reply #3900): ~200 launches. Post.
• LMT, 2024-08-16 (reply #4754): Alcântara LNG. Post. Attachments: Alcantara-Port-Terminal-layout.jpeg.

External references

• SpaceX Starship Users Guide.